High Voltage
by lysie3000
Summary: An MT/MP fic. Pan and Trunks are two individuals struggling to keep the human race alive when they meet and eventually find strength in each other.
1. Pan

Hi all! No I don't own DBZ but the whole Trunks/Gohan thing (next chapter) is sorta from Trunks' own little movie about his past (Which I own! Yay!) and basically this fic is based in Mirai Trunks'/ Mirai Pan' timeline just so's ya know that Trunks hasn't gone back in time and he's still struggling with that little android problem. (My grammar's not this bad in the fic itself.) Anywayz, hope you enjoy! O and review! Cool. Ok start reading......now!  
  
HIGH VOLTAGE  
  
Slowly she unraveled the tape wrapped tightly about her hands and ran her hands under cool sink water to relieve the burning sensation she felt in them after releasing tons of energy to fight invisible enemies while training. She glanced up at the calendar as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. 'Oh......it's that day again. I completely forgot. When you've got almost no job you don't really pay attention to dates I guess.' Her completely black cat, Star, walked by and she turned from the calendar to feed the cat and talk to it. "Hey Star, today's my birthday......again. I'm thinking a nice shower for me, and a can of tuna for you since it's a special day......and then maybe......I'll go dancing. You know, at a club. Or have dinner somewhere nice. What do you think about that?" The only reply she received from the busily eating cat was a curious stare and a tiny meow.  
  
"It's settled then.......dancing. I'm too hungry right now to wait for some over- paid, overly-perky waiter to bring me an over-priced dinner. I'll eat here before I go. Thanks Star." Another meow came from the cat.  
  
"Guess that means I have to wash up then huh? Dende I sound stupid talking to a cat. Oh well." She chugged a bottle of water, ate like a horse, and then climbed into the shower to wash away the dirt and grime of the day. After she had toweled off and turned on her cheap CD player to blast Zeppelin, the dilemma of what to wear presented itself to her. While thinking, she fidgeted with her necklace, a black, metal star on a chain double roped around her neck to form a loose choker, which she wore day and night and never took off. Messing with it had become a habit by now.  
  
Oh sure, her father, Gohan, had told her stories about the necklace she had had since birth but once she reached a certain age she assumed they were nothing but fairy tales. Although with her unusual heritage the stories didn't seem quite so preposterous. She could still remember as a little child being entranced by the legend of 'Dragonballs' when her father had sat by her bedside and told her all about the history of the necklace.  
  
"Panny, do you know what that is?" he had said when he tucked her in at night, pointing at her necklace. And then the once young and innocent Pan Son would answer, "Nooooooo," even though she had heard the tale many times before. It was her favorite among the many told about her sayajin ancestry.  
  
"It was a gift from Shenlong, the dragon that granted wishes. Do you remember him from the stories Pan-chan?"  
  
"Of course! He came up from all the Dragonballs when they were put together!"  
  
"Do you remember how many of them there were?"  
  
"Seven!!!" she would reply dutifully, as if learning lessons.  
  
"Right. And do you know which one yours came from?"  
  
"Nooooo," even though she knew perfectly well.  
  
"It came from the first Dragonball, the one with one star in the  
center."  
  
"Aaaaaaaannddd......"  
  
"Well," he continued with a pained look on his face, which Pan, at the age of ten, had not picked up on during all those nights of history lessons, "Shenlong decided along with Dende that the Dragonballs were too dangerous to the Earth because of the awesome power that they might grant someone in the wrong hands."  
  
"But you and the Z-fighters were the only ones who ever got the Dragonballs!" Pan would blurt.  
  
"Are you sure you've never heard this story before?" Gohan would ask slyly.  
  
Pan would put a hand to her mouth and shake her head vigorously until her dad continued while she tried not to giggle from behind her tightly clamped hand, "Yes, well, even though the Z-fighters were the only ones who had ever retrieved the Dragonballs, the fact was, our enemies were getting more and more powerful and we couldn't risk the destruction of Earth so......Shenlong destroyed them." At this point Gohan's expression would always become inexplicably sad. "And as a gift to Grandpa Goku, he gave him the star inside the first Dragonball. Which is what you're wearing around your neck." And then trying to lighten the mood, Gohan would say, "It's funny because from the outside the stars inside the Dragonballs always looked Orange, but when they were broken, the star was black. I suppose it's because the ball itself was yellow."  
  
But Pan would occasionally notice Gohan's pain and ask, "If the Dragonballs were still unbroken, would you bring Grandpa Goku back to life so I could meet him?" A question that wasn't meant to be any harm, but was a sharp reminder of the past for Gohan.  
  
"Of course Panny!" he would reply as enthusiastically as possible. Then after kissing her goodnight he would walk out of the room in pain. What had started out an innocent bedtime story had become the reopening of a painful wound that had never quite healed. And he would think to himself, 'Dende why in the world did you have to......if he hadn't died......things would have been different,' and he hoped that Dende had heard and would give him the strength to rectify the past.  
  
"Jerk!" Pan spat with bitterness, referring to her father as she returned to the present, 'Why'd he go and......die,' she thought painfully, as a tear ran down her face. She quickly wiped it, and all traces of her father, away as she realized that she had been staring blankly at her closet for several minutes in nothing but a towel while recalling events that had happened eight years ago. 'So,' she thought, 'this is it. Baggy/ripped pants, old shirt, more baggy/ripped pants, more old shirts, and......where in the world did this come from? Oh now I remember. Huh, a hand-me-down from dear old mum. Too bad she went and died too!' Her thoughts were bitter but formed from love and longing that she could not express instead of hate. 'Jeez I don't remember the dress being this tight,' she said as she slipped it on. Not that it didn't fit her. In fact it fit her absolutely perfect, hugging every curve and leaving nothing to the imagination in all of its short, tight, black, spaghetti-strap dress-ness. 'Egad, more memories,' she thought as she remembered exactly when she had gotten the dress.  
  
"This is the dress I wore when your father and I went on our first date," she giggled secretively with Pan only a year after her father's death. Pan remembered wondering how her mother could possibly giggle seeing as how Gohan's death had affected her the most, but perhaps it was in reminiscence and would help Videl.  
  
'Hah!' the present-day Pan thought, 'Fat chance!'  
  
"And I can remember exactly the look on his face! Ha ha! Your grandpa would've beaten him up if he could've when he saw Gohan ogling me like that." And then Videl looked at Pan and said, "Pan honey, you are going to be so gorgeous when you grow up you know that?" She handed the dress to Pan, who tried it on every morning for the next week and a half before realizing it would be a while before she grew into it.  
  
Pan snapped back into the present for the second time that day and regarded herself in the mirror with disdain. "Yuck. Way too tight for my liking. Unfortunately I don't have anything else to wear so this is it." She powered up with a blast of energy to quickly dry her raven hair (Ha! Just try and sell her a hair dryer!) and pulled the parts just above her ears back and tied them in the back, leaving the few strands in front of her face which never seemed to behave when she wanted them to.  
  
'Make-up? Don't own any. Alright, I'm off then.' She grabbed money off of the couch of her dingy, cheap apartment which she had hardly bothered to decorate and went out the door, giving a last goodbye to the most beloved thing in her life-Star. Out the door, down the several flights of stairs, out another door, and across the street until, at 9:00, she was sure that every one of the people who were stupid enough to be on the streets at this time of night would be stone drunk and wouldn't care if they saw something unusual, say, a girl flying.  
  
'C'mon, anything! I'm not picky!' Pan contemplated as she searched for any type of relatively respectable night club where she could dance away the night away and forget for a couple of hours the life that gave her so much pain. And suddenly she spotted a huge neon sign with the words 'High Voltage' sprawled across it and, because it didn't look run-down and the crowd outside weren't all lustful men, but rather couples, she chose to land a block away and walk to the entrance line, where she paid the drunken man at the door. That was maybe the only good thing about the androids' destruction; only eighteen and nobody cared to card her or ask her age because corruption ran so rampant that age was irrelevant.  
  
As she walked in and looked at the masses of people dancing, a sense of expectation suddenly wormed its way into her brain, and it wasn't because of the kick one gets on a birthday and it wasn't a good feeling for Pan.  
  
***  
  
It's the end of the chapter! That was just Pan's little story, a little insight into her world. Oh! I forgot to mention that I totally just winged it on the Dragonballs thing but I have a place where her necklace will fit in just perfectly so don't berate me on my little over-done dramatic spiel about the necklace! Hee hee, o yeah, and review please! Did I already ask you that? O well.  
  
----lysie--- that's pronounced lee-see......just thought I oughta let you know I'm not some sort of toilet bowl cleaner......get it??? Lysol! lysie?!?!?!?!? Hahaha......ok. 


	2. Trunks

2nd chapter here.....um.....I guess this is Trunks' little thingamadooder so hang in tight until they meet! Enjoy! And review! By the way, sorry it took so long to update. I just found out I had a summer reading assignment. Which stinks, but it has to be done. Great Expectations here I come!  
  
A young (and very handsome) man with lilac (yes, I think it's lilac you fools!!! Muahahaha!!!) hair lay on his bed, sighed, and continued staring up at the ceiling. What else was there to do? He ticked off his list of activities for the past six weeks on his fingers: Train, eat, train, sleep, eat some more, sleep, train, train, eat, sleep, eat. Ok, he'd had plenty to do! Oh, and take a shower occasionally, maybe pick up the dirty clothes around his room, but even that was too painful without the nagging of his mother. More than enough space for one person, his apartment was still small compared to the grandeur of the Capsule Corp. mansion he had once lived in as a little boy. But it, like most other things in Trunks' life, had been destroyed by the androids.  
  
'I can't stand living here......maybe I should move to a smaller apartment,' he thought. He hadn't even looked in his mother's room since she had died. He winced his eyes in pain and thought, 'Why do I keep telling myself she died? I can't even admit it to myself. She's not gone because she was too old or too sick. She was murdered.' He felt his heart pace quicken and he closed his eyes in pure, unadulterated hatred as he contemplated the facts. 'How is a twenty-two year old half-sayajin supposed to exact revenge when the objects of revenge are twice as powerful as himself?' Too many times he had asked himself the same question with the same answer every time: 'Go SSJ2......Which is......impossible......for me at least. I don't have enough training. Gohan died too early to get me any farther than Super-Sayajin. A lot of good that did. I hate him for dying! I hate him for leaving me on that stupid rock while he went and got himself killed!!!!' A sigh escaped from his lips.  
  
"I need to get out of this place." A rather unnecessary observation as he was already grabbing his short purple Capsule Corp. jacket and heading out the door. As soon as he had protected himself against the chill of February, he flew upwards into the sky in a blaze of ki. The moon hung low in the sky and at his altitude, the man could see every star shining in the sky. He was above the clouds and couldn't see the lights of the city because of their thick cover. 'Maybe I should......no, mom would kill me.' He thought as he pondered the consequences of going to some "evil and forbidden" place like a nightclub to relieve his extreme boredness. And then he realized with a sharp pang that his mother would not kill him, because she wasn't there. Then the dam holding his flood of memories back burst and his mother's voice floated into his head.  
  
"AND TRUNKS VEGETA BREIFS!!!!!! IF I EVER FIND YOU IN ONE OF THOSE EVIL AND ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN PLACES I'LL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!!!!!! Do you know what kind of people go into those places???? Huh? Corrupt people! The kind that'll slip drugs into your drink or something!!!!!!!!!! And the drinking!!!!!!! NEVER!!!! I don't care if you're of age you are NEVER going to let a drop of alcohol pass your innocent lips!!!!!!!!! NEVER!" All this had been shouted right after Trunks had asked his mother where she had met his father, Vegeta. She had answered that they had met through Goku and, while becoming increasingly reminiscent, had mentioned that their first date had been at a nightclub and that "your father danced like a dream," at which point she had burst out warning Trunks not to touch one of those places even thought Trunks reminded her several times that he was a sayajin and not many corrupt people would be able to harm him.  
  
Tears threatened to break his sayajin pride into pieces as he flew through the night air, and suddenly he was very glad for the cloud cover. Soon he had cleared all traces of the memory from his head, but as always, his mother, Bulma's presence lurked about him, creating a dull ache of longing in his heart. And suddenly the pride and spite that he had inherited from his father began to take over in the face of pain and he decided to spite his mother's memory, and perhaps make her shout her lungs out in the afterlife while watching him break her rule and he descended below the clouds to search for any type of "evil and forbidden" place he could find. He knew that once he died he was in for the beating of his life.  
  
The first thing he saw as he descended was a huge vertical neon sign reading, "High Voltage." "Why not?" he said, to no one in particular. He flew down closer, then walked the last block to the building and handed money to the guy outside the door. He walked in and immediately realized why it had been named High Voltage. Four huge generators stood in the four corners of the room and huge volts of electricity bounced from the top of one generator to the next. After he had been jostled by several people, as he was still standing in the entrance, which consisted of a flight of stairs leading down to the dance floor and the bar, he walked to the railing of the left side to move away from the incoming crowd. He looked around in curiosity and decided it wasn't such a bad place...other than the fact that if you wanted to find someone in particular it would be nearly impossible, as the masses of bodies were so packed that it was hard to tell where one person ended and the other began. Maybe he would be daring and go get a drink first. But his mind had suddenly forgotten all about the alcohol that he had wanted to try for so long as he noticed the one person in the whole place who stood out. He knew he had to meet her...  
  
OOOOOOOOoooooooo.....I'll give you three guesses who it is......ha ha. Hope ya liked it. I know it's short but this was a good place to end it 'cuz the next part's long. So yes, the next chapter will be longer.....hopefully a lot longer. Hope ff.net won't do anything screwy to my fic this chapter around. Yadadadadadadadada.....and really bad eggs........ta luvs! 


	3. Dancing

Woooowww..the next chapter..it's amazering. Anywayz, I forgot to say that I do not own anything Dragonball Z.except for my perfectly legal Trunks episodes that I bought on VHS from Suncoast! And my Trunks/Goku pillow.and my Trunks wallscroll...yeeeahhh.  
  
Also, I'm sorry the story reads out really cruddy so far. I mean, I checked the grammar and it's ok, but it reads really weird.some of the sentences are awkward, plus sometimes I forget junk and then that makes me put something different then what.er, never mind. Anyways I really do hope you like it, aside from the bad writing and the messed-up symbols in the first chapter. Those sucked. Oh well. REVIEW! Ok, bye!  
  
Q: What do you do in your free time?  
  
A: Dream about how I can be more like Chris Sabat. (Chris Sabat=The voices of Vegeta, Yamcha, Piccolo, + Mr. Popo)  
-From an online interview with Eric Vale.(the voice of Trunks, people!)  
  
Pan was not having a good time. It was February 12th.her birthday, and she wasn't having a good time. Of course, she had never really had a good time on her birthday, but she had been hoping that this time it might be different. She was hoping that since she had taken the initiative and went out, which she was afraid to do because of the androids, and gone dancing, one of the things she used to love, she would have fun. But every man had a one-track mind, and hers was in torment. She couldn't place a finger on the nagging feeling in the back of her mind. It was like a splinter and it was driving her crazy. And she didn't feel like being touched by anyone. It wasn't something that could be avoided with the tightly packed crowd but she shuddered with revulsion every time someone brushed her with an arm, or pushed past. This wasn't normal for her. Human contact wasn't something she'd had an excessive amount of, but she still had a part-time job and had to buy things and she had never minded their company at any other time. She wondered what had brought about this sudden change. She tried to dance but failed. For some reason, tonight she couldn't find the rhythm that she knew so well when she blasted her CD player and danced at home. 'It's just a bad song.' she thought to console herself, but she knew that it was more than that, because she had danced to bad songs many times with people she had not wanted to dance with.  
  
***  
  
As soon as he saw her he was entranced. Totally and completely. He must've noticed her because she wasn't dancing. Wasn't moving her body at all. Just standing there, waiting for something. But he had a feeling he would've noticed her anyway. There seemed to be a soft euphoric light surrounding her that he could not explain to himself. She started walking and her beautiful, pale face was frowning in discontent. He knew exactly who he wanted to dance with and knew he couldn't lose her in the crowd. He walked towards her, trying to think of a way to get her to dance with him, which was extremely unusual, because the only female contact he'd had in his life was with his mother or if he rescued women from the androids. Which wasn't much contact at all. So his bravado on the part of this mysterious girl was very unnatural. He pushed past all the dancing people until.  
  
***  
  
'I need a drink.' Pan thought as she headed towards the bar. She felt a headache coming on. 'Maybe I should have waited and done this tomorrow night and celebrated a late birthday.' Suddenly a fast, upbeat song came on (if you need a guide, think of Technologique Park or a song by Daft Punk) and all traces of her headache disappeared. It caught her completely off- guard. It was the perfect song. She couldn't resist and began to dance, regardless of the revulsion she felt at touching other people. It was a beat so stimulating, so deliciously pure and primordial, that she felt her inner sayajin waking up inside her and taking control. Her father had told her when she was younger that sayajin women, as a rule, loved to dance, so she supposed it was in her blood. Her sense of smell began to heighten and as she began to smell the sweat of all the people around her, she also caught an intoxicating scent. It was coming closer to her and she couldn't stop dancing as the smell filled her nostrils. This alone should have been enough to tell her that something odd was going to happen, as the sayajin part of her had never reacted to anything this way. The smell was almost overwhelming as she lifted her head up and saw right away the man she was sure was driving her crazy. Standing just a few feet away from her he watched her as if she was the only one in the whole place. She barely took in the fact that his hair was a brilliant lilac and instead stared straight into his flickering cerulean eyes, that seemed to change color as he moved closer to her. At this point her mind completely shut off and her instincts took absolute control. She had to be closer to him.  
  
***  
  
Trunks now had no thought in his head of asking her to dance. It was enough just to watch her dance. Her stunning body undulated and swung back and forth to the rhythm of the music. Her raven hair swirled around her and caught her slender neck in an embrace. And when she looked up, she looked right at him, giving him a chance to look straight into her eyes. Ebony, without a trace of emotion, looking as if you could drown in their endless depths. They were absolutely perfect. He realized he must've looked a fool, standing there in the midst of a crowd of dancing people staring, and breathing deeply to inhale the delicate fragrance that surrounded her, but all he wanted was to be closer to her.  
  
***  
  
Both Pan and Trunks involuntarily gravitated towards each other, unaware of the other's past, or bloodline, or name. They didn't say a word to one another, just came closer, and Trunks, looking down into Pan's eyes, gently touched her waist as she grabbed his shoulders and pressed herself against him. The whole time they hadn't broken eye contact and they didn't even as their dance brought them closer together. Pan's mouth was slightly open, as if it were hard for her to breathe. Truthfully, it was. Her heart was going at such a pace, a new sensation overcame her and her lungs couldn't hold it in. But breathing was the last thing on her mind as she spun around only to meet with her dance partner's startling blue eyes. It was like a dream for both of them. They were completely wrapped up in the sensations they were feeling.touch, sight, smell, and sound. Pan's revulsion of touch was a thing left far behind. Her feelings now were quite different; in fact they were an exact opposite. All she wanted to do was touch him and she would be in a state of absolute ecstasy. He felt the same. It didn't matter how they danced as long as they were near each other.  
  
***  
  
The song slowed suddenly and the splinter that had plagued Pan's mind earlier reminded her of it with a sharp stab of pain in the back of her head. She broke off quickly from their dance, turned sharply, and stalked away looking confused, leaving Trunks looking hurt, bewildered, and dazed all at the same time. 'What was I doing? I didn't even know him!' she thought as she stalked towards the entrance with her face down in shame, not even looking where she was going. 'I'm going home and I'm never going out for my birthday again. This is what happens when.' her train of thought was suddenly interrupted as she bumped straight into two people entering. She mumbled a hurried "sorry." as she rushed by with her head still down, wanting to get home badly when she felt her arm being grabbed roughly and her body dragged back. "Look I said I was sorry." she began angrily, and then her voice and breath caught in her throat as she saw who had grabbed her.  
  
***  
  
After Pan had left, Trunks stood there in a daze, wondering what had happened. 'I didn't do anything stupid did I? Dende she was beautiful. I wonder if I should go after her?' After deep contemplation he decided he wasn't brave enough to go apologize/get to know the girl, even though he had faced the two most deadly beings on Earth many times with barely a quaver in his courage. Then he decided to go and claim the alcohol he had come to try. He desperately needed it after finding out why men wanted to understand women all the time.  
  
He sat down at the counter as the bartender turned around and looked at him while inquiring as to what Trunks wanted to drink. As soon as Trunks had replied that he would like a beer he realized that the bartender was laughing silently at him. "What?" Trunks growled.  
  
"Oh nothing." he paused for a couple of seconds and then continued, "I just see everything around here. When a guy comes in with purple ('It's lilac' Trunks thought.) hair and starts to dance with the most beautiful girl we've had here for ages I just happen to notice. That's all."  
  
Trunks ignored him and the bartender turned around and grabbed a beer from a cooler behind him and handed it to Trunks. He then continued, adding to Trunks' humiliation. "I also saw her leave in a huff. What did you do boy? Try to feel her up or something?"  
  
Trunks felt his cheeks burn at the thought of himself taking advantage of a girl. It was just wrong. "I would never do anything like that," he said calmly, "I didn't do anything at all but dance with her."  
  
"Well you certainly attracted a lot of attention there didn't you?"  
  
"Listen, I don't feel like talking about it okay?"  
  
"Fine then. But it looked like you two had known each other for a long time. Is she an old fling?" The only reply he received from Trunks was a burning glare. Oh, if looks could kill.  
  
Ok.that seemed like a good place to end it. Oh no! Please don't throw muffins at me!!!!!! I know I said this chapter was supposed to be a lot longer but I can't do that much! I'm so incompetent I know! I have to go read.but I'd say that's pretty good, ya know, 2 chapters in two days! Ha ha, I posted the other one last night but it was pretty late shoooo I don't know who actually would read it at the ungodly hour of 9:30 ;) ha ha.ya know I'm kidding. Ok, review, I love those..even if you just put "hello" in the box it's all good..really! Ta all! 


	4. Androids

Hi all! Next chapter here! I'm really cranking them out aren't I? I have to admit, it's all thanks to the incredible inspiration of my best friend Toady. She's also writing a fic at death-curse.com (it's about Harry Potter and it rox) and every time she posts a chapter, I'm inspired to write. Even though my writing's kinda cruddy. So here it is. Sorry last chapter their views kinda switched off. I'm still getting used to the whole oooh, she's here, he's there thing. Ok, review! Pleeze! I'm begging you! I have so few of them! *sniff* It's shooo sad.  
  
Oh! But thank you to deathbycookie15 and all the other reviewers (cookie reviewed TWICE) And special thanks to Toady who also reviewed TWICE! That's a good idea ya know! REVIEW TWICE! OR THRICE! OR MORE!  
  
Q: Are you all right with the fact that the character you play has purple hair?  
  
A: Yes. I am secure in my life.  
-Once again, the interview with Eric Vale (formerly Eric Johnson.he changed his last name)  
  
Pan gasped and stared up into the cold, black, merciless eyes of the one being in the world that she hated more than Android 18.Android 17. "Look who's here! Who would've thought that the little sayajin girl would stray this far from home."  
  
18 stepped forward to face Pan, who was now fighting to keep her face straight and her knees from buckling in pain as 17 twisted her arm cruelly. "Nice dress. Maybe when you're dead, if we haven't done too much damage to it, I can repair it. You're about my size aren't you?" Pan barely held in a gasp of pain as 17 twisted her arm further.  
  
"Answer my sister little girl." he drawled.  
  
Pan found her voice and answered, "Gee 18, have you lost weight?"  
  
18's face contorted contemptuously, "No you idiot. I'm an android."  
  
"Oh.then it wouldn't fit you." Immediately she regretted the words as 17 twisted her arm almost to the breaking point and she had to take off her mask of indifference and wince with pain.  
  
18 spoke again, "I have a feeling she wants to be killed.which can be done quite easily despite her annoying habit of escaping in the nick of time, every time. Really brother, can we finish her tonight? I'm tired of her stupid witticisms."  
  
17 looked at his sister then back at Pan and let his gaze rove over her body, taking in the curves that had been hidden so cleverly whenever she had fought them before. "It might be fun to fight a girl in a dress.a short dress." He used the arm he had grabbed before to pull her closer to him. Suddenly she was short on breath. He was holding her so tight to him that she felt her ribs being crushed. She knew if she had wanted to get out of his deathly bear-hug she would have had to fully power up, a risk she was not willing to take in the middle of a nightclub. His grip loosened slightly and she thought that maybe she could avoid a confrontation in the middle of a throng of people, but immediately she let out a gasp of surprise and revulsion as she felt his hand slide down her side. It slid smoothly over her hip and stayed positioned on her thigh. The whole ordeal lasted no more than five seconds but she had never felt more disgusted in her life. She wanted to retch right then and there. She hadn't even known that an android could be lustful.  
  
He brought his head closer and whispered, "It'd be a shame to kill something so beautiful." Pan's eyes widened in terror and she was on the verge of breaking out her powers just to get away from him when 18 cut in with disdain.  
  
"Brother, I don't think it wise to fraternize with the enemy when she so clearly finds you unattractive." She said while scowling and glaring at the two. (a/n: no she's not jealous.although in the history of trunks there are hints of a little incest.) "Plus you're making me sick.if you're going to do that, make sure I'm not watching. I'd rather pay for clothes."  
  
At this point the man at the door, although drunk, had finally realized that the woman in the black dress was being treated poorly. He stood up, knees shaky because of his numerous drinks and walked over, tapping 17 on the shoulder. "Leave the lady alone." Pan saw 17's face turn stormy in an instant and she could almost feel his temper rising. He swung around, still holding Pan by the waist. He stood staring at the man for approximately 2 seconds, raised his finger and.  
  
***  
  
All Trunks heard was screaming. It was instant pandemonium. The whole place was rushing to get out of the exits. The bartender was about to leave when he pointed to the entrance, "Hey, isn't that the chick you were with? Looks like she's in trouble." and he ducked out to join the crazed crowds of people. Trunks followed his finger to the door and saw the beautiful girl standing shocked in the grasp of none other than android 17. Her eyes were transfixed on the poor man who had been on duty at the door. He was slumped on the floor, eyes fixed open in the blank, yet surprised, stare of the dead, with a smoking, smoldering, gaping hole in the middle of his stomach. He couldn't hear anything above the yells and screams of the crowd, but he suddenly saw the girl try to break free of 17's arms. It looked as if she was screaming at him.  
  
What he saw next he could not have predicted even with Dende's help. She had powered up.he rubbed his eyes and looked again. He could see the golden aura around her and her long hair whipping every which way in her self-perpetuated wind but couldn't believe that he was staring at a stronger-than-normal being. The only people he knew who would react like that, were himself and.Gohan. But Gohan was dead. How could this be? Then he saw her finally break free and.fly?!?! He knew he wasn't hallucinating. She had just flown out the door. It was several moments before he realized that the androids had also flown out the door and were probably going to hurt her. He immediately got up and tried to jostle his way out of the crowd in time to follow them, but by the time he had gotten to the door it was too late. There wasn't a trace of them.  
  
Ok! Wowee! Wasn't that good?!?!?!? Hee hee, I flatter myself.but keep in mind people that they can't sense ki (is that how ya spell it?) in this fic, so he has no idea where they are. Just to let ya know. No loopholes or anything. Ok, so enjoy AND REVIEW! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!! Or my best friend Toady will eat you.with salt! Yeeeeeeeessssssssss, salt! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, luv ya all..  
  
-Captain Jack Sparrow..erm.I mean, lysie.but I like Jack better..so um, yeah.. 


	5. Vengeance

WOO-HOO! Fifth Chapter.wowee. I know my updates are kinda slow but I've got a life (I got it at Ross) and even though it IS miniscule it is, nevertheless, a life and I use it quite often. So, without further ado.THE STORY! Oh, and special thanks to AAAAAALLLL my reviewers (hee hee four of my reviews come from Toady.my best friend.and NO! Toady is NOT her real name..duhhh) *SIGH* OH FRAAANKIE! *SWOONS* Can you tell I'm listening to Sinatra?  
  
By the way, has anybody noticed how many "conveniently" located, empty, barren, rocky places there are in DBZ? I mean, really!  
  
Q: When you do a fighting seen do you just act like you're constipated to make the noises?  
  
A: No, I just eat a lot of cheese.  
  
-Once again, the interview with Eric Vale.and yes, I do know that "scene" is spelled wrong. I wasn't the one asking the question so don't blame me.  
  
Wind rushed past, making it almost impossible to see for Pan as her hair whipped into her face and the wind stung her eyes as she flew at top- speed through the night air. She was going as fast as she could but the maniacal twins were gaining. Pan visualized the gaping hole in the middle of the doorman and 17's look of anger right before he had killed the man. Then she thought about how her uncharacteristic cussing towards 17 had inspired the same look, and she urged her body to move faster. She had no idea where she was going or what she would do when she got there. All she wanted was to stay alive.  
  
She felt herself losing power and she admitted to herself that she could not outrun them. She would have to stand and fight. She cast her eyes about anxiously, trying to look for a fighting ground that would give her ample cover, a bit of an advantage, and wouldn't harm any innocent people. She was flying over dusty, rocky terrain that had remained virtually flat until now. She was coming up to a series of red plateaus that were at least a mile from the nearest town. She slowed to a halt in mid-air and slowly turned to face the mechanical monsters. They were just arriving and had also stopped in mid-air, but had positioned themselves higher than Pan so that all she could see when she looked up at them was a view of crossed arms, evilly smirking faces, and a distorted view that made her feel inferior and weak. She tried to keep all traces of fear from her face but she couldn't help her eyes widening in terror. She felt sick, and for good reason, as she was about to fight the two most powerful and evil beings in the universe and had almost no means of escape this time around. The other times she had fought them the fighting grounds had been destroyed cities, where there was ample cover, and she became a master of evasion, using destroyed buildings to hide and wait until they had gone.  
  
She focused her mind completely on the fight ahead and was ready and waiting for the first shot to be fired from the androids, when the purple- haired man suddenly popped into her head. She thought of the dance they had shared, and her stomach felt like a butterfly cage. Then she realized what she had been thinking about and that she was vulnerable and shook her head to wake up but before she could become fully alert she felt herself being slammed into the nearest overhanging cliff and buried in rock as her body made a deep indent in it. Pain wracked every nerve and she wondered how she had managed to get hit with a blast of energy that powerful. She held in her groan of pain and pushed her way out, hovering just outside the gaping hole in the side of the cliff and clutching her side, where she suspected one of her ribs had been broken. But the huge error that had caused her to be thrown had made her angry. Rarely ever did Pan's rage get control of her because she was so good at masking her feelings that it was smothered and pushed to the back of her mind. But she wasn't angry at the androids, she was angry at herself for letting herself get hit so easily. It was a characteristic family (and racial) trait that she should strive to be the best, making no mistakes and fighting her hardest. So her anger at herself (and partly at the purple-haired man for making her think of him) took control of her, grew swiftly, and turned itself into two quick hits: a punch to 17's torso, and a swift roundhouse into 18's head. She propelled herself backwards to evade their next attack until she was a safe enough distance and waited, this time making sure that her concentration remained solely on the fight at hand.  
  
17 looked at Pan in shock and yelled "You bi-," before 18 interrupted.  
  
"Watch your language brother. It's not nice to cuss in front of little girls. Especially one so weak." She then turned to Pan, "And by the way, if any of my hair falls out because of that kick, you're dead. And if none of my hair falls out.you're dead." Both androids laughed cruelly at 18's joke. (A/N: I know it's lame, but androids are stoopid.)  
  
Pan decided as soon as 18 started talking to use the interlude to her advantage. She flew towards the pair as they began to laugh but was stopped short by 17's foot in her stomach. She had been flying so fast towards them that she was bent over his foot from the impact. She felt herself fall and then caught herself and flew upwards again, only to hear their voices again.  
  
"Something has got her all worked up. She's never this feisty. Usually she takes the defensive." 18 said, observing Pan's grimace as she came up towards them.  
  
"But when they're angry it's more fun sister. Remember what that one guy was like when we killed him? What was his name?"  
  
"I think it was Go-something. Go.fran?"  
  
Pan, who was experiencing this torture far beyond physical pain, felt her heart rate jump extraordinarily, and her body breaking out in a cold sweat as she listened to the night of her father's death told through the androids' eyes. She had always known that he had been killed by the androids but the most she knew was that he had gone off one day to fight them and never came back. Now she listened in horror as her mortal enemies shamed her family and her father.  
  
"No, it was Gohan, I remember now. He wore that stupid orange jumpsuit that made him look terribly unattractive. But remember how angry he was that night? He ruined my favorite shirt. That pissed me off."  
  
"Brother, that is your ONLY shirt. You have it in duplicate, but really, I think you should try to broaden your horizons. I know this perfect little boutique on the corner of 5th and-,"  
  
"I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU! I'M NOT GOING SHOPPING WITH YOU!!!"  
  
"Fine, have it your way."  
  
Now Pan was ready to fight. There was nothing holding her or her anger back. She raced towards the two for a third time, this time sure that she would finally avenge her father and all the people who had been hurt by them.  
  
***  
  
Trunks raced out of the building and into the night air. 'Dende, they're gonna kill her." he thought as he flew through the clouds, just able to shield himself from the view of human eyes but low enough to look for any signs of a battle, or a slaughter. He flew for a good ten minutes, all the time searching frantically. In the background he heard the bass of a new rap song that he disliked greatly blasting from a convertible filled with teenagers. The bass stopped suddenly and Trunks knew that the song was not over, and that the interruption of a song usually meant a special news radio report.  
  
Careful not to be seen, he flew lower, making sure that he was behind the car as it sped along, surely not obeying the speed limit. He listened closer and managed to catch a few words.  
  
"Reports of.and loud noises.say there were lights.about 1 mile.ordered to evacuate Orange City."  
  
He quickly put together the pieces, (A/N: He can't be dumb! His mother is Bulma! He has to be SMART!) and immediately changed direction towards Orange City. He would search the perimeter of the city within a one-mile radius and hopefully would find the girl and the androids. He sped off, not bothering to conceal his flight, and greatly confused a whole carload of very drunk teenagers as their favorite rap song came back on the radio.  
  
***  
  
"I don't think she can take much more of this brother." 18 smirked. It had been a long fight and Pan had been much more dominant and offensive than when she had usually fought them. They could tell she was incredibly angry about something and was considerably more dangerous to them. So they did what they did best.double-teamed. It was completely unfair, but why risk destruction by playing fair? They had never been ones to follow the rules anyways. It had always been an instinct to destroy in whatever way they could.  
  
So Pan stood before them now, blood dripping from many, many wounds, her breathing ragged, and a huge, dark bruise beginning to form on her thigh, where 17 had mercilessly kicked it five times in a row while 18 rained blows down upon Pan's head. But the androids had not gotten off unharmed. They each had their share of scrapes and bruises; a much higher amount than usual. In fact, neither of them had been this beaten up since they had fought all the Z fighters at once.  
  
"So can we kill her now?" 18 finished.  
  
"Always the impatient one. I wish you would just let me have some fun for once." When he said the word 'fun' he looked meaningfully at Pan and she recoiled in disgust. "Look, I promise you I'll go shopping with you if you just wait a little longer on this. It's fun. I'll even let you pick me out a new outfit."  
  
18 pouted her lips and looked down at Pan disdainfully. "Fine, but you're carrying all my bags too. And no killing the shop owners, ok?"  
  
"It's a deal." He looked back at Pan and raised his hands to fire a ki blast at her, which she evaded easily.  
  
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that. I'm not finished fighting yet." Words that sounded strong, but Pan knew better. Her strength was almost completely drained and the pain that they had inflicted consumed her. But she was a sayajin and she wouldn't give up while she still had a leg to stand on.  
  
***  
  
Finally Trunks was able to hear something with his super-sensitive sayajin ears. Blasts up ahead in the distance. He had flown around the quite large city almost the whole way and was hoping that in the seemingly vast amount of time he had taken to fly his way around that the girl hadn't been killed already. He had a feeling that maybe she could hold out for a while. He had seen her power up and fly and those were both sure signs that she was powerful. Maybe not powerful enough to hold out for long, but for long enough.  
  
Now he could see the shots of energy flying everywhere. It was like a war zone, with dust everywhere and whole cliffs flying into pieces when hit. And now he could see everyone.  
  
***  
  
'Not possible' thought Pan. She had been in the middle of aerial combat with 17 because she had just thrown 18 to the ground when she looked up and saw him. It wasn't possible. 'It isn't possible. It's not possible. He's there.' and her stomach did a flip-flop. She was just floating there in mid-air, susceptible to anything as she stared blindly at the man who she had danced with. He was flying towards them. 'How can he.?' her thoughts were interrupted as she felt herself being pushed into yet another cliff wall, but this time she could still feel 17's hand. It was on her throat. Instinctively she lashed out at him with both arms and legs to get free, but he had her legs pinned between the wall and his knee, using all his power to subdue her. She focused all her energy on her arms and flailed at him uselessly until she felt her air supply decreasing rapidly. She started pulling at the fist around her throat but he was using everything he had for this last battle. The last thing she saw before she blacked out from lack of air was the purple-haired man's hair turning golden as he transformed into a super-sayajin, but it hardly registered as her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.  
  
I think that's enough for one chapter don't you? That was long enough wasn't it? HUH HUH HUH?!?!?!? Anyways, I'll leave you all to guess what happens next. AND REVIEW! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE..with a monkey poo on top?!?!? Sorry.something about monkeys and their poo. OH, and Toady.*licks bottom lip* Hellooo Severus.AHHHH!!!!! STUDENTS!!!!!! WHERE?!?!!?!?!?!?!? Ok, bye all! Love, me..erm..I mean...TA LUVS! 


	6. Healing

Didya like the last chapter? HUH HUH HUH?!?!?!? Well if ya did ya should review! Okay, now that I have that out of my system....um.well let's see where did we leave off? OH YES! Now I remember. Okay let's get this show on the road. (Toady don't you just love my new pink shirt? I love your Tinkerbell one.sho cute) If anybody cares, right now I'm listening to the Charlie's Angels soundtrack.*OOOOO BARRACUDA...*  
  
Oh, one more thing. If you wanna imagine a good song for the fight scene, listen to "Ya Mama" by Fatboy Slim. I'm sorry, this whole story is just my excess frustration and torment at not being able to make (direct) a movie. I am such a creative genius (ha ha), that's what I want to do for a living.  
  
Q: You people are so funny. How can you be that funny?  
  
A: Huh?  
-The interview with Eric Vale *sighs and swoons* sho cute.  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
The first thing that Trunks saw clearly as he approached the fight was the mysterious girl delivering a high kick under 17's chin, then blocking a punch from 18 in mid-air. She looked beat-up and like she had lost a lot of blood but she had held out this far and he didn't intent to let her die. As he raced closer he saw her stop in the middle of aerial combat with 17 to stare at him in shock. He wanted to shout to her to move, or do something, but it was too late. By the time she was ready to fight again, 17 had tackled her and flown her into the side of a cliff wall with his hand encircling her neck. Trunks knew what came next. 17 often did this to young girls as a form of entertainment. Death by strangulation.  
  
He raced closer and closer, hoping to catch the android by surprise as 18 floundered to recover on the ground. 'Almost there.' he urged his body to go faster. He saw the girl struggling for breath, and as he came up right behind 17 at about 150 miles per hour, the last look he saw written on her face was one of anger, but it was directed towards him. Then she passed out.  
  
At that exact moment, two things happened. 17 dropped the girl, intending to watch her fall to the rocky ground and die. And Trunks slammed his body into 17's, making him go over 10 feet into the solid rock behind them. Trunks propelled himself out of the hole fast enough to fly at top speed and catch the swiftly falling girl in his arms just before she hit the ground. He set her down gently and flew upwards again to face the android who was just now coming out of the deep crater his body had made.  
  
"You've done it again you idiot. This is my favorite shirt. I can't believe this, both of them in one night." As 17 drawled the words, Trunks suddenly felt a foot in his back and was kicked towards the earth, stopping himself before he reached the ground.  
  
18 smirked and crossed her arms, "How many times do I have to tell you brother? That's your ONLY shirt. But that will be remedied when you go shopping with me." She unfolded her arms and looked down at Trunks only to find he was not on the ground, but rather behind her, with his elbow about to collide with the back of her head. She spun around quickly, grabbed his arm, and tossed him to 17, who was ready with a blast of energy to put into Trunks' stomach.  
  
Trunks took the blow, falling towards earth as before and catching himself mid-air, as before. He landed softly on the ground, realizing that he had to get the girl medical attention as he looked at her bleeding, unconscious form. He looked up to see the androids racing towards him on ground level, about to double-team him on the ground. He gathered up all of his energy, praying softly to Dende as he grabbed the girl and prepared to take off.  
  
The androids were coming closer and closer, their evil faces leering at him as they sped forward. Trunks' forehead broke into a sweat as he tried to exactly time his escape plan. He began to form the ki ball in his palm and let it grow big enough to expend most of his energy, but making sure he had enough left to get home quickly. '3.2.1.' He released the ball right on top of the androids as they drew near enough to be hit, creating a huge dust cloud because of the magnitude of the energy ball. He flew upwards as fast as he could, holding the girl in both arms, legs dangling over one side, head over the other, and raced off into the night, hoping against hope that his enormous dust cloud would last long enough to hold off the androids. He chanced a quick look back and found he couldn't even see the place where they had fought before. And there were definitely no androids following in their wake. Nevertheless, he kept up his immense speed, flying through the clouds so as not to be detected, until he reached his apartment, utterly exhausted and ready to collapse.  
  
He opened the door, which was never locked (what good would it do for a sayajin??) and staggered in, still holding the girl as gently as if he was holding a newborn baby. Before he could attend to any of his injuries he knew she would have to be looked after if she was to survive. He had not bothered to try to learn anything from his mother about healing because he had not expected her to be killed suddenly, and was planning on killing the androids way before she would die. But he had been taken care of often enough and knew how to heal all the various cuts and scrapes that Pan had. After he had examined her further, he learned that one of her ribs had been broken. He had once had several broken ribs and he felt his cheeks flush as he thought of how they had had to be treated. But there was nothing for it, there was no other person around to help and he couldn't just leave them to heal on their own.  
  
So, very carefully, trying not to look, he lifted up her dress, trying not to take notice of the black underwear that graced the girl's slender hips. He was careful not to lift too high, but he knew the bandage had to encircle the whole abdomen. He grabbed the bandage he was going to use and began to bind her whole stomach, starting from the top. As he worked his way down and around, he marveled at the girl's flat and toned stomach, knowing that he had NEVER been anywhere near a girl like THIS. He tried to keep his head clear of all thoughts save that of bandaging and wrapped the bandage tightly around her waist until he was finally finished. He breathed a huge sigh of relief as he pulled her dress back down.  
  
The next thing to be addressed was her very bruised neck. Obviously, he had checked her breathing first and found that 17's strangulation had not been finished when he had attacked. Her neck hadn't swelled at all and he wondered why as he observed the black star necklace that encircled it. He decided that a necklace was the last thing needed on the neck of one who had just been strangled. So, very carefully, trying not to make the injury any worse than it already was, he undid the clasp at the back and slid it off of her, putting it in his pocket to keep for her.  
  
Now it was well past midnight and he was tired, so Trunks hobbled off to bed, not bothering with his own injuries, sinking down onto the mattress and getting to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. But he couldn't help thinking one last thought about the beautiful and mysterious girl: 'She looks so familiar.' and then his brain completely shut off.  
  
Thank you Thank you Thank you *bows*. I know I know, not as long as the last one but hey, out the very next day right? Who can complain?!?!!? Six chapters.that's amazing dood. Really. So, if you're part of the OOCCFWMTFL and you are obsessed with a cartoon character or have met a friend through froot loops, you can be part of it! Except me and Toady might try to hit you over the head with empty rum bottles because we're sorta using it to disguise our AA meetings..ha ha ha, you know I'm kidding people. Well, REVIEW! And tell me what ya think. Thanks to the people who review more than once!!!!!!!! IT'S POSSIBLE! YOU CAAAAAAN DO IT! YOU ARE NOT INVISIBLE..oh no.Toady slap me...... 


	7. Breakfast

Howdy y'all! Wow, this is the 7th chapter.I'm amazed. Of course I'm expecting to finish it and all, it's just, I didn't expect that my summer would be this open. What with hanging out with Toady almost every day.I dunno, it's just sorta cool that I got this far so fast. Okay without further ado.  
  
Q: Is Chris Sabat the coolest guy or what?  
  
A: He's a little long winded and has the breath of a banshee, but I can put up with him for at least 45 minutes at a time.  
-Do I even have to say it anymore? The.interview.with.Eric.Vale.  
  
Chapter 7:  
  
'Where in the heck am I?' was the only thought Pan could form as she lay, almost senseless, on some strange bed. Pain coursed through her and she strived to remember exactly what had happened last night. She gritted her teeth and tried to sit up but as she did, and as her broken rib gave her a sudden reminder that she should be lying down, the memory of her tumble into the cliff wall came back to her. And everything else. And the purple-haired man. She lay herself back down. 'Why in the world would he be there? He was flying. And fighting. I saw him. Or maybe I was just delusional with pain.'  
  
The next thing that came back was her near-death at 17's hands. She brought her hand up to her throat and winced as her fingertips brushed against it. 'No wonder my throat hurts so much. I can barely even swallow.' She held her hand up so she could look at it and realized that all her wounds had been carefully bandaged and taken care of. She panicked slightly at the loss of her necklace, which she had never taken off before in her life, but knew that finding out where she was was much more important. 'But what about.' She lifted up her dress, almost afraid of what she might find, and saw that her whole stomach was bound tightly, the reason it had been so hard to sit up. She prayed silently to Dende that a woman had rendered this dressing.  
  
She looked at her surroundings for the first time. It was a rather large room but the view from the window told her she was high up so she suspected she was in an apartment. The room had been painted an aquamarine blue but the paint was barely visible through all the sketches and designs on the walls and ceilings. They were all of one intricate machine. She was too far away to study one closely though, so she just assumed that this room belonged to a scientist of some sort. There were odd little contraptions all over the room. Some were whirring and clicking and she had no idea how they worked or what they did.  
  
Finally she decided that she had to get up. She couldn't just let herself stay in bed, vulnerable. She braced herself and got ready to move, however painful it might be. '1.2.3.' she sat up and almost screamed. Not only was she in pain because of her wounds, but she was sore all over. All of her muscles had tensed up without the hot shower she usually took after a fight or training. 'Aw great, if I'm in any danger at all, I can barely move. Wonderful.' She got up slowly, trying not to over-exert herself, and stood shakily on the ground in triumph. She walked over to the door, slowly at first, and then quickly as she got used to her sore muscles. Silently she opened the door, trying not to make a sound.  
  
She tiptoed out, and then realized she would make less noise if she hovered silently above the ground. So she lifted herself off the ground just enough for her feet not to touch. 'This "apartment" is more like a penthouse.' she thought as she observed the huge living room in which she found herself. A big screen plasma TV, leather sofas, wood flooring, glass coffee table. 'Someone knows how to live in luxury.' One side of the room was just a huge pane of glass that looked out onto the city. And though she knew she was supposed to be cautious in this new, and potentially dangerous, setting, she couldn't resist moving right up and pressing her nose against the glass. "That's amazing." she whispered to herself, completely forgetting where she was for the moment.  
  
"Dende! You shouldn't even be up yet! Why are you out of bed?!?" Pan spun around at the speed of light, releasing a ki ball directly at the source of the noise at the same time. She watched as the man from the night before casually brushed it away and watched it hit and destroy the wall of the hallway behind him. He was wearing the same thing as the night before, a black tank top, pants and a purple (A/N: and really cool!) jacket and was rubbing his forehead sleepily in an attempt to wake himself up further. His hair was tousled from sleep so he had obviously slept in those clothes.  
  
Pan was breathing heavily, and her stomach felt about to burst with the tightly wrapped bandages around it. Her voice was shaky as she asked, "Who are you?"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing but right now I need to brush my teeth. And eat. And take a shower. And probably clean up whatever injuries I got last night. So just make yourself at home I suppose. The kitchen's over there," he pointed a finger to his right where there was an open door, "if you want to make something for yourself. I expect you're hungry. And probably tired. So you might want to get a few more hours of sleep. Once I'm done getting ready for the day I can make you breakfast if you want." He turned and dragged himself out, leaving Pan standing speechless at her cold rebuttal.  
  
'It's him.of COURSE it's him. It's ALWAYS him! How could it NOT be him?!!? He probably has my necklace, that jerk. Dende, I don't even know him and he pisses me off.' Pan was getting lost in her thoughts when her stomach gave her a very polite reminder that it was not full. 'I have to eat something.well, he said make myself at home! And the kitchen's that way so why not?' She walked into the kitchen, automatically searching for ingredients, and began to cook.(A/N: Well, she's lived by herself for a long time! Why not learn to cook?)  
  
On the outside, Trunks had remained calm, acting as if the presence of a scantily clad, super-powered girl in his apartment was of every day proportions, but on the inside he was in total disarray. He had been trying to forget the events of the previous night, telling himself it was just a dream, and when he inspected himself and found the injuries he had sustained, he had mentally groaned and walked out to check on the girl when he had found her, floating, with her face pressed up against the window. He thought of how he had, as a foolish, tired act, put her to sleep in his mother's room. They had a guest room, so why had he automatically brought her there? It would have been painful to walk in there in full consciousness so he supposed he was grateful that she had saved him the mental journey. It was as he took his shower he thought of what he would say to her. He practiced mentally, trying to sound as if he were the epitome of calm and collected. 'Hey, want some breakfast?.No.Hey, my name is.no, that sounds like I'm at an AA meeting.' and so on.  
  
So he toweled off (A/N: Trunks in a towel.yum. ;)), brushed his teeth, and got dressed, throwing on a plain white shirt (A/N: if you're dangerous, it's a wife-beater.;)) and jeans. He had inspected every injury and deduced that a hot shower had taken care of disinfecting so he was fine in that respect. He was finally ready to face her and probably try to make breakfast for the first time in his life (does cereal count?), so imagine his surprise as his nose was filled with the tantalizing scent of food. LOTS of food. His nose could tell. He walked quickly, trying to slow down, even in anticipation of food, and stepped coolly into the kitchen. The first thing he saw was the girl, flipping pancakes with a vengeance, as if they had done something to her. A very frustrated and angry look was on her face as she cooked, and a strand of hair (which she had put up in a ponytail) was hanging right in the middle of her face, causing her to have to blow it out of the way every few seconds and making her even more frustrated.  
  
Truth be told, her frustration was the product of Trunks' kitchen, which had basically rotted away in the time that Bulma had been gone. Most of the cupboard space was occupied with Lucky Charms and Fruity Pebbles. When she had finally found the right ingredients to make pancakes, she couldn't find the bacon, and when she found the bacon, the eggs had to be excavated from the back of the fridge, which was crammed with TV dinners, which were supposed to be in the freezer anyways. By the time she had found everything to cook, she was extremely hungry and extremely mad at a man she didn't even know.  
  
Trunks was still tired from the night before, which resulted in a yawn, "You *yawn* made food?" He stared as she masterfully flipped another pancake and placed it on top of the huge pile that seemed to be growing by the second.  
  
She glared at him, "I made food for myself, if you want something you're on your own lucky leprechaun."  
  
Trunks' mouth was already watering and it took all his self-restrain not to let himself drool as she paused from the pancakes to attend to the bacon, frying in its own fat and adding it to another huge pile of bacon. "But.but.I." he could barely bring himself to say it because somehow, in the middle of his kitchen, next to this girl it sounded shameful, "I saved you."  
  
Obviously this had done it. This was the last straw. Her head snapped up, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she turned off the flames on the stove, turning the knobs so sharply that it was a miracle they didn't break. "Listen! I don't know who you are, or for that matter what you are, but I'd like to get one thing straight. You DID NOT save me. You did NOT save my life. I don't know what you were sniffing last night but this is what happened: We danced, it was wrong so I left. The androids were there so I fought them. Our stupid dance together made me lose concentration which is how I broke this rib," she gestured to her stomach, "so that's one strike against you. Also, I'm guessing since your house has devolved into the imaginary play-world of a ten-year-old, you have no maid or servants. Which means that YOU dressed this wound," again she pointed to her stomach, "which is the second strike against you. I don't care if my rib is frigging broken, I don't want a man to put his hand up my dress, got it? I would've been fine on my own! And lastly, if you hadn't shown up at just the opportune moment, I wouldn't have gotten body slammed and choked half to death! Strike three. I would've been fine with the androids if you hadn't shown up. And I don't know what happened after I passed out, but right now, I'm hungry, and I'm pissed off, so don't go asking for my food! Got it?" She was breathing heavily now. Trunks was now just as angry as she was (sayajin heritage) and was about to retort rather sharply but apparently she had remembered something else he had done wrong and continued, "OH! And what about my necklace?!?!? How DARE you take that off my neck?? Any idiot could see my neck isn't swelling and I've NEVER taken that necklace off. NEVER!!! Do you know how much that means to me? You've just RUINED IT!!!!! So give it back and after I'm finished eating I can go home!" She violently turned back to her work, leaving Trunks standing there, shocked.  
  
Now Trunks was fighting to keep his fists down by his sides instead of slamming them into her face. A vein was going in his forehead and, really, he looked almost exactly like his deceased father standing there, getting completely and totally enraged with Bulma. But Trunks didn't know any of that. All he knew was that this seemingly charming young girl was an ungrateful brat (A/N: er.insert another word here, but I don't cuss, so use your imagination! ^_^;;) and was standing in HIS kitchen eating HIS food. His thoughts strayed for an instant as, once again, his nose filled with the scent of frying bacon, 'Where did I get bacon? Heck, where did I get eggs? And stuff to make pancakes?' But his mind snapped back to reality as he realized he wouldn't get any of the food that was rightfully his. And he was HUNGRY. He had taken her in hadn't he? He was showing her hospitality! Shouldn't he get some of that delicious food which she surely couldn't eat all by herself?  
  
"No, you listen! I did too save your butt and you know it!!! It sure as heck isn't MY fault if dancing with you distracted you. That's YOUR fault! And, by the way, absolutely WONDERFUL how you left me standing in the middle of the dance floor like an idiot! Sheesh! Secondly, what did you want me to do with your broken rib?!?!? Let it just sit there overnight while you toss and turn? Oh yeah, that's a good idea.And it doesn't matter WHEN I showed up, I just did. It isn't my fault that you were just floating there in mid-air, staring at me like an idiot!!! You LET 17 slam you into the side of a cliff!!" Now he began to mock Pan in her previous tirade by making his voice higher and moving his head from side to side trying to imitate her, "Also, I'm guessing that since you didn't even have the strength to block, defend, or evade his attack, you probably wouldn't have been okay with the androids seeing as how you passed out from lack of oxygen!!!" Pan stood in shock, her mouth hanging open (lucky the stove-top wasn't on) as Trunks continued, (now in a normal, but very loud, voice) "And AFTER you passed out, I fought off the androids long enough to bring you back here, TO MY HOUSE! And I don't even know you! Talk about hospitality! I could've just left you out there to die, which, right now, doesn't seem like such a bad idea. And I dressed all your wounds so you wouldn't DIE and I'm letting you eat all my food, so I think I deserve at least a 'thank you' if not breakfast!!!!!!!!!!!" He stopped finally, panting because his voice had been slowly rising in octaves since he had begun. He remembered the last thing that she had said and felt he had to respond to that too, "Oh, and about that stupid necklace!!!! How was I supposed to know it was a family heirloom?!?! It was common sense to take if off, especially if you'd just been strangled. But if you're that eager to leave, and all you need is this stupid necklace, well here," he reached into his pocket and tossed it to her.  
  
She caught it deftly and, after putting the necklace back on, returned to cooking breakfast without a word. Her cheeks were flushed with anger and her pancake flipping had gotten so violent that Trunks worried one might end up on the ceiling. Trunks, normally a very, very soft-spoken man, was almost regretful of his rant. That is, until the girl suddenly turned around, pulled down her bottom eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine, you can have some of my breakfast." she said reluctantly, her tone of voice bossy and almost demanding, "how many pancakes do you want?" The whole time she kept her eyes on her work and her eyebrows arched as she asked the question condescendingly.  
  
Trunks shifted uneasily and told himself that he wouldn't have yelled at her if he'd known she would offer him breakfast. "Well.how many of those can you actually eat?" he pointed to the pancakes.  
  
"All of them and more." she answered without looking up.  
  
"Then I want as many as you have." He answered, smirking slightly because he didn't believe she could actually eat that much food.  
  
"Fine, but it's going to take a while. Why don't you take these and I can make some for myself." She picked up the plate, which almost looked like it was sagging under the strain of the weight and set it on the table, along with some syrup and butter that she had dug up from the fridge. "Help yourself. But I highly doubt you can eat ALL of it."  
  
Trunks grinned, keeping his eyes on the food the whole time and unscrewed the cap of the syrup instead of using the pop-top and proceeding to empty almost the whole bottle onto his giant pile of pancakes. "Just watch me." He began to eat with the ferocity that only a sayajin possesses.  
  
Pan watched him curiously, wondering where exactly she knew that eating 'technique' from, and she realized with a start that her father had sat down to the table, his mouth stretched wide open, bending down closely so he could shovel in as much food as possible and ate exactly like this young man. She averted her eyes and went back to cooking her breakfast as her stomach rumbled and reminded her that it was definitely not full. "So you only like syrup on your pancakes?"  
  
"Yaghm," Trunks managed to get out with his mouth full and food flying out. Pan understood it to be affirmative. After a couple of minutes, Pan had created another stack of pancakes, this one bigger than the last, and sat down to eat it at the table with the eggs she had prepared and the bacon, which she had not shared with Trunks. Instead of syrup, she took the tray of butter and dumped it over her pancakes. By this time, Trunks had already finished his (well, for a sayjin) meager meal and was eyeing her food hungrily.  
  
Now Pan had begun to eat with the same ferocity as Trunks and was quite enjoying herself now that her stomach was full. Trunks was still looking at her, or rather, her food, as he tried to get a conversation started without the untimely rumbling of his stomach cutting in. "Well, listen, I know we got off to a bad start and everything, but I'm assuming it's just because we were both really hungry. So, um." he cleared his throat, searching for time because, honestly, he wasn't ready to pour out the secret of his heritage and ancestry to this girl he had just met, but he was insanely curious as to how she had gotten so strong, "So, um, my name is Trunks," he looked up sheepishly, waiting for a reaction, but all he saw was the mound of food disappearing rapidly and a raven head appearing slowly from behind it all. He couldn't help but feel a pang of loss because the sight reminded him so much of Gohan.  
  
She waited until she had finished, sighed in contentment, leaned back, and smiled wanly at him to answer, "Is there a last name to go with that, Trunks?" she folded her hands in her lap and sat up straight as she awaited an answer, still smiling in contentment.  
  
"Briefs," he replied, as emotionless as he could, trying to work out the true nature of the girl as she sat there as laid back as possible.  
  
"Ah, very interesting." She raised one eyebrow, and, apparently feeling the discussion was over, stood up, gathered all the dirty dishes, and stuck them in the sink to wash.  
  
Trunks felt cheated now. He had given her his name and was suddenly dying to know everything about her. "So, do you happen to have a name?" He felt it was the best way to ask the question, even though his nerves were jumping in anticipation and anxiety. It was almost as if he could sense something was about to happen as soon as she spoke, but he was not prepared for her answer.  
  
"Pan Son," she said it while washing dishes, completely unprepared for Trunks' reaction, just as he was unprepared for her answer.  
  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I am shoooo done..isnt' it long? Aren't you proud of me?!?!?! Yeah that's what I thought.but really, I'm proud of myself. I managed to get two, count 'em TWO paragraphs chock full of chewing-out-ness in one chapter doods! Special thanks to Deathbycookie15 and V Son Sayian! They each reviewed like, 4 times or something! Wowee! AND OF COURSE TOADY!!!!!! EGAD! SHE'S WONDERFUL. And also my best friend. Ooooh, I'm listenin' to Queen. Are youuuu!?!?!? I'm also part of the OOCCFWMTFL but you can only be part if you drink excessive amounts of rum (don't worry, I don't, I'm underage, but Captain Jack Sparrow does!), are a very handsome teenage boy, are obsessed with cartoon characters (wouldn't that automatically qualify everyone here?) and have met a friend through froot loops. Yesh, our admittance standards are pretty high. Well, it's the last day of summer for me, so have fun with the last chapter you'll get for a while...ta luvs!!!!!!!!!! 


	8. Solving the Riddle

"Gotta keep, one jump, ahead of the breadline, one swing ahead of the sword! I steal, only what I can't afford! (And that's everything!)" I'll give you a Homestar marshmallow if you tell me what movie/song/singer/whatever that song quote is from!!!! Yeah I know you know Toady..don't sass me!!!! *Licks bottom lip* All right, enough silliness (is it just me or do I sound like Archibald the asparagus?) and on to the story!!!  
  
Q: You people are so funny. How can you be that funny?  
  
A: Huh? -Gah.if you don't know by now, there's no hope for you people.  
  
"Pan Son."  
  
He could hear the words echoing through his head, but he wasn't sure if what he had heard had been real or just a figment of his imagination. The last name, surely it wasn't right. It couldn't be, could it? Just a fluke. There could be loads of Sons running about. 'No.she couldn't be.if she was.' He stared as she turned around, eyeing him quizzically. One eyebrow was arched, and her beautiful mouth was opened slightly as if she was about to form a question.  
  
There was no mistaking it. It was Gohan Son in every mannerism, every look, everything, now that he looked back on it. Perhaps he hadn't had quite her temper, but his passionate voice rung out in hers, and there she stood, looking almost Goku-like in her confusion.  
  
"Um, hello?" her eyebrow went down and she turned away again, "Are you okay?" Now her voice was cynical, and there was no mistaking her tone; the one Gohan used whenever he wanted to tease or upset him mom.  
  
She turned back to washing the dishes, unassuming and unaware of Trunks' extreme inner anguish.  
  
"Listen, I have to ask you something. I hope you don't think I'm prying, but I have to know. What's your father's name?" The question was asked shakily, in eager anticipation of an answer. 'This is crazy!' he thought, 'She's not going to say it. Gohan would have told me if he had had a daughter! But she's the right age and.stop!'  
  
At this she whirled around again, and Trunks could see her temper flaring again. "How dare you ask about that?!?" she yelled. And then her face turned stony, and her eyes turned from fire to ice. "Sorry, it's just, my father.passed away.some time ago." At this Trunks' stomach did a flip-flop. "His name was Gohan if you want to know." There was silence for at least a minute, each of the two staring off into space, contemplating the answer.  
  
"Why.why did you want to know?" she asked, trying to be nonchalant, leaning against the extensive granite countertop. Trunks noticed that her skin had adopted a greenish tint and she looked as if she was about to be sick.  
  
Two choices now stood before him-tell her, or leave her in the dark, although since she had already seen him flying, there would be questions, and he knew he couldn't lie his way out of this one. "That's why you could fly, isn't it? You're a sayajin." Trunks advanced upon her slowly, watching her ebony eyes widen in amazement and horror. She opened her mouth to say something and he cut her off before she could say anything. "You eat like a sayajin, and you can fly, and obviously you can fight like one too. You must be at least one-fourth, but I can't figure out why Gohan wouldn't tell me something like this." His voice trailed off, and clearly he was thinking deeply about something. As he looked up, Pan was still staring at him in disbelief, but this time she looked tenser-coiled and ready to spring if he were to come any closer.  
  
When she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the now empty-feeling kitchen, and filled Trunks' ears with mistrust, confusion, and anger. The cadence of her words was slow and menacing, "I want you to explain everything you've just said. I want you to explain how you know what I am, and how you know my father." The glare that accompanied her words was enough to let Trunks know that he was in danger with a sayajin who didn't trust him.  
  
He took a deep breath, preparing for the plunge, and began, slowly at first, to show her that he had nothing to hide. "My father was a sayajin- the Prince of all Sayajins actually." He explained the history of sayajins, most of which Pan had already known, through her father's stories, but she dared not interrupt him. When he had finished with the battle of the androids, in which everyone except her father had died, he got to the part that Pan hadn't known, that her father had taken special pains not to tell her. "Before going into battle, my father made Gohan promise to take care of his wife, my mom, Bulma. What he didn't know was that Bulma was pregnant with me and that he wouldn't get to live to see his child. Gohan was fourteen when that battle was fought and soon after, I was born. How old are you?"  
  
"I turned eighteen yesterday." She answered, devoid of emotion.  
  
"Ah." he continued with slight embarrassment, "Happy Birthday. Anyways, you're only four years younger than me, which means Gohan must've gotten your mother pregnant when he was eighteen. Which reminds me, who is your mother?"  
  
Pan sat, staring at the table, looking half-dead as she spoke, "Videl Satan. And my mother was only sixteen when she had me, she was two years younger than my dad." She looked up at Trunks and he watched as a single tear rolled down her cheek, only to be brushed away by a scornful hand. "Sayajins don't cry." She whispered, quickly looking back down at the table, clearly embarrassed.  
  
Trunks opened his mouth to offer words of comfort, but all that came out was a meek, "I wonder why he never told us?"  
  
"Did." Pan swallowed as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill, "Did you ever find out how he.how he died?"  
  
"I-um.it was the androids, but I didn't see it. He knocked me out so I couldn't go with him. He said it was too dangerous and that I was just a distraction." He glanced at her and the pain that was etched in her face was almost too much for him to bear. "But hey, at least you knew your father. Mine was dead long before I could ever have gotten to know him. And---my mom was killed not too long ago."  
  
"The androids?"  
"Yeah, but it was my fault. I---" He was cut off by a sharp gasp from Pan. It looked as if her heart had stopped for a split second. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were wide open.  
  
She groaned in pain, "Something's wrong. The androids did something but---my cat! Oh Dende.Star is still at home!! Listen Trunks, I need to go home NOW. Thanks for the hospitality." She darted from her chair and sprinted to the door, with Trunks chasing after her.  
  
"Wait, I'm coming with you!" He yelled, as she took off outside the door. He shot upwards, following her. "Do you even know how to get home?" He shouted as he caught up with her.  
  
"This is Trent isn't it? I recognize the Statesmen's Building. I can find my way home from here."  
  
He nodded in confirmation as he tried desperately to keep up with her. She acted as if she were possessed. They flew onward, over the city and over the expanses of grassland and desert that now lay between every city, where the rest of civilization used to dwell. Soon they had reached a small town at the foothills of a large, snowy mountain. She dove downwards, and Trunks felt his heart beat increase as he realized that flames had engulfed a section of the town.  
  
Pan felt her insides twist as she realized that her apartment complex, one of the tallest buildings, was now lying in ruins on the ground, with the dead bodies of its inhabitants lying everywhere. She landed amid the rubble of the slowly burning building, the flames reflected in her eyes, as she desperately called the name of her cat over and over again.  
  
AHHHHH!!! Okay, okay, I know it wasn't exactly up to scratch, and you're all yelling, "Put some sexual tension between them!!!!" but we have to take it slowly or else it'll just be a mindless flirt-fest (not that there's anything wrong with those mind you! I love 'em!!!) but this story is going to have some depth darnit!!!! And for all of you wondering why I'm making such a big fricking deal over her cat.well, first of all I love cats and secondly, THAT SIGNAL IS OVER A THOUSAND FEET HIGH!!! I mean, secondly, I have a good reason and you won't find out unless you read and I decide to do all my homework super fast every day to work on a new chapter.ahem. That's all for now! 


	9. Making a Decision

Hey, whaddaya know! I liiiiiiiiiiiiive!!! Ha!!! You're all still thinking I'm crazy 'cuz of the cat thing..I know..but it gets better. This chapter I'm actually gonna..well...I don't know yet.I'm making this up as I go. Alright, I have no witty quotes for you today so without further ado, let the story begin!  
  
Q: What's your favorite song? A: Tough one. I never change the station when a Doors song is on, so it's somewhere in there.  
-Eric Vale's interview  
  
Chapter 9!!!!  
  
Pan stared at the wreckage and tried to grasp the full damage that had been done. "STAR!!!" she called, panic invading her voice. She called the name several more times before sprinting into the rubble trying to dig up her cat. Anger flashed in her eyes, and they looked not black, but, with the dying flames reflected in them, red. Finally a tiny 'meow' made its way to her super-sensitive ears. She followed it and saw, coming out of the distance, a limping black shape that slowly sharpened to become a scraggly cat. She scooped it up and her heart slowly went back to its proper place.  
  
"Her paw looks broken, or at the very least twisted." Trunks offered while checking the pulses of all the people laying scattered around the building. "Well they certainly did their job well," He said angrily when he had finished, "Not one person left alive. Your cat must have jumped out of the window before the building blew up, which is probably the cause of her injury."  
  
"All my stuff.." Pan whispered while gazing at the building and holding Star. "It's gone.." She appeared not to have heard Trunks. "I have nowhere to live..no clothes...no..nothing." She wasn't crying, but the lack of emotion in her voice scared Trunks, because he realized that she had built her heart up, encased it in a layer of ice, so that no matter what happened, she wouldn't be able to feel pain. It was disturbing how calm and unperturbed she was.  
  
Trunks took a deep breath, knowing that what he was about to do could drive him crazy, given that he didn't know the girl at all. "Well..." he began, "You could come and.." He cleared his throat nervously, "live with me if you wanted." He paused for her reaction. When there was none, he went on hurriedly, "I have more than enough room---"  
  
"I don't accept charity Trunks." She said coldly, her back still to him.  
  
"That much I expected, coming from you," he said jokingly, "but you have nowhere to go, and if you stay with me, we can use each other to build our strength. I'm tired of sparring against machines."  
  
She turned towards him, "If I do, you'll rub it in my face every chance you get, and you'll hold it against me. Saving my life then offering me a home, like I'm a helpless beggar. I don't know if my pride could handle it."  
  
He snorted in amusement, "Well, you don't know me very well then. I would be the last person to do something like that. I have decency you know. Not all men are pigs."  
  
"Like you had decency at breakfast when you used the fact that you'd saved my life to get a little food?" She pointed out.  
  
"Ah...erm..sorry about that Pan." He grinned good-naturedly, "I'm just not used to having beautiful women running around cooking breakfast." When he realized he had just said the word 'beautiful', he turned a bright shade of crimson, which clashed horribly with his hair, and he looked down at his feet. "I mean..um..it's not like..the only person who ever cooked me breakfast was my mom."  
  
Pan's eyes widened, not for the first time that day, as she felt her heart flip-flop and start going at 200 beats a minute. 'Did he just say I was beautiful?' she wondered. She realized she was blushing as well and did her best to rectify the situation. "I understand. Well then..I guess if I stay with you, you can't say it's charity because I'll be cooking and cleaning and I'll be sparring with you."  
  
"Yeah...that's it. So..um, see if you can salvage anything from the wreckage and we'll head..home." He said the last word so quietly she almost didn't hear it, but she knew that now that she had accepted, changes were in store for her, and, indeed, for the rest of mankind. Sharing the same home with a man she barely knew was going to be a challenge, she knew, but something about him, the something she had seen the first time she had ever seen him, was comforting, and it gave her hope for the first time in a very long time.  
  
Wow!!!!!! Short! But I got it up on the same night as chapter 8 so you guys can't complain.Well, probably nothing for a while, unless I do stuff next weekend. Adios, mis amigos!!! 


	10. Shopping!

Howdy Y'all!!!! Ahem. I'd like to know how you all feel about my story, so if it doesn't trouble you too much, please..click the little button at the bottom...nothing fancy, just a few words of encouragement..Well now I sound greedy!!! Poo. Ah well. You can't win 'em all. Okay then. ON TO THE THE-A-TER!!! I mean..ON TO THE STORY!!! Btw, thank you all for your absolutely wonderful reviews..I feel so loved!  
  
Hmmm...it seems I've run out of Eric Vale quotes..Oh well. No more for you...  
  
Chapter 10  
  
"Shopping?!?!?!?!?" Pan gasped in surprise as Trunks nodded serenely. She shook her head in amazement, "I've never had a guy suggest shopping. Well, I don't want to go, and besides, I don't have any money."  
  
"I was only suggesting it for practicality Pan. You have absolutely nothing to wear. Not even a fresh change of underwear. And I'm not giving you mine. And I don't own any bra's either so forget about that." He crossed his arms and looked at her determinedly.  
  
Pan glared back, and for a full minute they stood, having a silent staring contest. Finally, Pan dropped her arms in defeat and sighed heavily. "Who's paying for it?" she asked.  
  
"Me, of course," he smirked at her, "Who did you think?"  
  
"Fine...but you're only buying me the necessities." She reached down to stroke the cat that was rubbing against her knees. It trotted over to Trunks, where it proceeded to rub against his ankles and meow pitifully.  
  
He frowned down on it and asked, "Why in the world would you keep a..cat??? They only pay attention to you if they want something and they seclude themselves all the time."  
  
Pan knit her eyebrows in a grimace. "Cat hater? Ugh..I'm living with a cat hater. Cats are mysterious creatures filled with wonder if you must know. And Star loves me. She doesn't keep herself secluded. You must've had a bad experience or something."  
  
"Speaking of cats," said Trunks, "How were you able to know when the androids attacked yesterday? It was scary. I thought you were going to pass out on the floor in pain. And then you mentioned your cat and I thought you'd gone crazy."  
  
Pan frowned deeply and stared at the ground, thinking. It was a subject she'd been trying to avoid, mainly because she'd made herself look possessed in front of Trunks and she was trying to forget the whole incident. "I..I'm not really sure," she began, "All of a sudden I got the most horrible pain in my stomach, like when you're frightened, but a million times worse, and then an image of something blowing up popped into my head and I was sure it had something to do with my home. And I only mentioned my cat because she's the only thing I have left to care about. If anything had happened..I.."  
  
"It's okay," Trunks cut through the silence, "I was just curious. I'm sorry I asked, really." There was another long pause before Trunks said, "Well then, I suppose we'd better go now, before it gets too late." He cleared his throat and offered her his hand getting up from the couch. She grasped it slowly, and as she looked up at his face, he could tell she was still trying to trust him, but without getting too close, not willing to become a friend.  
  
She was pulled up by his strong arms, but in that one second of contact her heart began to race again. This time it was a feeling of security that she'd never experienced before. The touch of a stranger's hand was so warm, so safe, that she never wanted to let go. She found herself lost in his eyes as she continued to look into them, realizing that for one moment in time she had let her defenses slip, she had let her guard down and had allowed her heart to thaw ever so much. It frightened her, and she released her own hand quickly, her breathing shallow, breaking their gaze. And silently she vowed never to let herself slip again. She would not be intrigued or entranced by this man ever again.  
  
***  
  
Both of them detested shopping. For clothes at least. First on the list were the 'unmentionables'. For this part, Pan had made Trunks stand outside of the store, out of which she hurried, blushing, due in most part to the large and boisterous lady who had been telling her what a perfect bust she had for such-and-such bra. When Pan came out of the store her red face made Trunks smile, even as she punched him in the arm for taking amusement in her embarrassment.  
  
He suddenly realized he'd been doing a lot of it lately. Smiling. Everything she did prompted a smile and made him forget, for a moment, the turmoil inside of him. Before she had come into his life, everything was just one big knot of pain, and now, when only days before he had felt that nothing could ever make him happy again, she had only to blush and he felt happier than he'd ever felt in his life.  
  
The rest of the day was spent in convincing Pan to buy more than just a couple of T-shirts and some jeans. When they'd returned home, Pan plopped onto the couch, where she'd slept the night before, in exhaustion.  
  
"I can train for the whole day and feel fine, but I can't spend 4 hours in a mall without collapsing." She sighed heavily as she felt her eyes begin to close.  
  
"Hold on, don't fall asleep. I've got guest rooms you know. And extra toothbrushes and whatnot. Go get yourself into your new pajamas, get ready for bed, and sleep in a proper bed. Tomorrow, we begin training, and you'll need to make me a big breakfast." He grinned as his stomach remembered the taste of Pan's cooking.  
  
"Yes MOM..." Pan rolled her eyes and crawled into the bathroom, showering and brushing her teeth and feeling much cleaner than she had in days. When she came out, dressed in her flannel pants and tanktop, she passed through the hall, glancing into Trunks' room, where she noticed him sitting (A/N: In nothing but boxers!!!!! Yay!!!! Mmmmm, memories of Braaaaaad..) on the bed cross-legged, eyes closed and leaning back on his hands. He seemed to be in deep thought and she hated to disturb him, but she needed to know where her room was.  
  
"Trunks?" she questioned softly.  
  
"Down the hall, next right." He answered, equally as softly. "Sweet dreams."  
  
She gazed at him for another few seconds admiring his gentle manner (A/N: Oh you know she was staring at his rock hard body!!!!) and then moved on, clambering into bed with a sigh of relief.  
  
Ha ha ha!!! How'd you like that!!?!?!?? Actually, it wasn't that great, but I'm actually putting the chapters out. Great isn't it? Okay then. That's all..I'm sleepy. 


	11. Trunks' room

Oh yeah, in case you haven't noticed by now, I have a flair for the dramatic...thus Pan's sudden heart attack/nausea (I'm not really sure either) and all the other cheesy stuff. But I would like to make everyone realize that this story is made up of all my pent up ideas and scenes that run through my head all day. This should actually be a movie (it would be soooo much better) but unfortunately, I don't have millions of dollars at my disposal sooooooo..I am forced to release the ideas and such into writing. Making it sound cheesy. Like that. Okay, enough with the rant. Let's get on with the story...cuz it's not that I don't like writing, I can just visualize the thing so much better in my head and its almost impossible to describe.  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Pan was angry. A two-hour long spar that tested all of her endurance had eventually resulted in Trunks pinning her to the ground while she gasped for breath and admitted defeat. A cut below her eye bled and drops of blood fell into her mouth. She had never had such an intense training session, and although she could already feel the differences between fighting inanimate objects and half-sayajins making her body stronger, her pride wouldn't allow her to feel satisfied because she had lost.  
  
She wiped the blood and sweat from her face as Trunks walked into the kitchen where she was. He looked up to see her glaring at him. He chuckled, "Don't be a sore loser Pan." She stuck her tongue out at him and splashed her face with water. "Pan, you were amazing. I mean, you're only a quarter sayjin and you're...well...a..."  
  
Pan finished his sentence, "A girl? Is that what you were going to say? Well this girl has fed you and kept this house clean (and believe me, it really needed to be cleaned) for the past 3 weeks. So if you don't want any more edible food, you can go back to eating Lucky Charms for breakfast, lunch and dinner!" By this time, her cheeks were red, and she was furious, not so much for losing, but from hearing such a chauvinistic comment from someone whom she thought would've been more sensitive than the average male, having lost his mom.  
  
She stalked off towards the bathroom, presumably to take a shower. Trunks, realizing his mistake, called out to her. "Pan, wait! I didn't mean it that way!" But she was already gone. He clapped his hand to his forehead in frustration and sighed. He hadn't known she would take it that way. Sayajin females really were weaker than the males, as he'd learned via his mom via his dad. Or perhaps it was just his father's arrogance that had led him to say something like that. Either way, Trunks was tired and sweaty, and he desperately needed a shower. He sighed heavily and followed Pan down the hall to take a shower himself.  
  
***  
  
Pan was dry now and her anger abated. She found that she couldn't be angry with him for long. She walked down the hallway to the kitchen to get food to replenish her energy and on the way she passed Trunks' room. Surprisingly, the door was open. Throughout the past 3 weeks, Trunks had never left his door open except for right before he went to bed because he didn't want Star roaming around his room. Without Trunks in it to distract her, she examined every aspect of the room. Dirty clothes and underwear hung everywhere and the floor was barely visible. Everything about it was drab. The walls were white, the bed sheets were white, and the clothes strewn about on the floor weren't eye-catching in muted shades of black and gray. The only colorful things in the room were his two Capsule Corp. jackets draped over the headboard and a picture of something that lay on top of the nightstand. She knew he wouldn't want her snooping around in his room, but she could still hear the shower running and she figured she'd have enough time to glance at the picture that had suddenly become so curious to her.  
  
She crept in, hovering just above the ground so that she wouldn't have to step all over his junk on the floor. As she drew closer, she could make out a shock of bright blue hair. The same aquamarine color that she had awoken to after her last unsuccessful fight against the androids, during which Trunks had come to her rescue. As she took the frame in her hands she knew exactly who the three people in the picture were. The blue haired woman was grinning wildly and holding a small bundle that she was sure was Trunks. Beside her stood a scowling man who had his arms crossed. Despite his facial expression, his eyes said that he was deeply in love with the woman next to him.  
  
Trunks had said very little about his parents and Pan hadn't bothered to pry into his history, but who else could these people be? She'd seen the smile on the woman's face imprinted onto Trunks' every time he found something funny. And Trunks' dynamic stance and trademark scowl (as she had recently witnessed) were apparent in every aspect of the black-haired man.  
  
Pan was preparing to leave the room, knowing she had already stayed too long to assure that Trunks wouldn't walk in on her, when Star walked in. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but Trunks was slightly allergic to cats, and had already yelled innumerable profanities at Star when she had left several "presents" for him on the living room couch, and even one on his pillow right before bed. Pan's eyes narrowed as she resigned herself to the task of catching the mischievous cat.  
  
She dove over Trunks' bed with sayajin speed trying to grab Star before she darted under the bed, but she was too late. She inhaled sharply in frustration and realized how strongly the bed smelled like Trunks. A citrus-y smell combined with the scent of chocolate....more specifically chocolate-covered gummi bears. Then she realized the only reason the bed smelled like gummi-bears was because he had a huge bag of them on his nightstand. 'Why hasn't he shared them with me!!!' she thought indignantly as she realized that while she'd been in deep meditation on Trunks' (A/N: reeeeeeealy comfy) bed, her cat had been dragging something out from underneath the bed. She slid off the bed on the other side and caught sight of the raggedy orange thing that Star was trying desperately to drag out. She lifted up the bedskirt and pulled out a box from which her cat had managed to procure the orange thing.  
  
She untangled it from Star's claws and unfolded it, holding it up to the light in front of her. And, as the realization of what it was hit her, she gasped in a mixture of surprise and pain. After all the time she'd spent trying to forget, she wasn't prepared for her memories to be thrown cruelly back at her. Her eyes blurred with tears as she gazed upon the last artifact that her father had left in this world---his orange and blue gi that had once been Goku's. The Son family's crest was embroidered in bold black on the back and it retained every ounce of pride that it had once stood for, but there were myriads of holes, rips and tears, and, even more painful, a shock of red blood that bloomed from the collar, laying on the outfit like a scar.  
  
She clutched it to her chest and felt full-fledged tears well up inside her closed eyes. They fell softly and landed on the orange material. She opened her eyes and noticed the box that the gi had come from. On the top of the pile there was another unframed picture, of her father, right before his death she guessed, by his lack of an arm, standing next to a young boy of about 14 or 15 with lavender hair. Underneath the picture was another stack of pictures that made it look as if Gohan had been Trunks' father and they had been one happy family. When her father had told her he was going to train, he must've meant with Trunks. Another outfit of her father's, a simple work outfit, was underneath the pictures. A small brown cloth bag was at the bottom of the box. She recognized it as the bag that her father carried senzu beans in.  
  
Pan couldn't hold in the pain any longer. She began to sob like a little girl, and she didn't realize, so enveloped in her own misery, that the noises of the water hitting tile were gone and that Trunks was standing, still wet, (A/N: doncha just loooooove me?) in a pair of jeans (A/N: and nothing else...makes it more romantic...you'll see) by the door, watching her, mouth agape.  
  
Finito!!!!! Anotha' chapta'!!! Oooooooo it's gonna get gooooood!!!! Bwahahahahahaaaaaaa!!!! I dedicate this chapter to Toady, who can't read any of this because her dad is eeeevil. Bye all!!!! 


	12. Breaking Through

Okay, so maybe I'm supposed to be working on English projects and Spanish essays......but even I want to know what's gonna happen next.....soooooo, I've decided to keep on writing. Thank you to all of those wonderful reviewers. You guys make me feel awesome! Once again, I dedicate this chapter to Toady.....in fact, I might as well dedicate the whole story to Toady.  
  
Her brain screamed in alarm, and her heart rate increased tenfold, but still her tears would not stem their fall. Not once had she cried when she'd been told that her father had been murdered, not once had she cried when she'd been told that her mother had passed away, but it seemed as if all the tears that should have fallen so long ago were determined to fall now. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move; her legs curled under her and splayed to the sides and her arms crossed tight over the one thing her father had left behind.  
  
Trunks' mouth closed slowly, and he swallowed, preparing to speak. His mouth reopened, but no sound came out. The only thing he could think was, 'Oh Dende, what is she doing here......what did she have to come in here for?' The look in her eyes was enough to break any heart. It wasn't a look of being betrayed-he sensed that she had never let herself trust him to begin with-but the pain etched into them was haunting. Because, unlike her, when his mother had been killed, when Gohan had been killed, he had cried-he had let out every ounce of anger, but Pan, Pan had held everything in, and it was clearly written in her face.  
  
Her sobs had stopped, but tears still ran freely down her face with no sign of stopping. The end of her nose had turned bright red, and her eyes had swelled but she was still intimidating and beautiful. He felt as though if he didn't explain himself he would be punished to the highest degree by this creature, and he was frightened of the consequences that lay in store for him. She couldn't overpower him physically, but he couldn't imagine life without her in it, and was afraid of what would happen if she decided to leave.  
  
Finally, one strangled word managed to find its way out of his mouth: "Pan......" He couldn't force himself to utter another word. But he knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for not telling her, how stupid he had been. He wanted to beg her forgiveness and her trust, which she had never given him in the first place. He wanted, more than anything, for her to stop hurting.  
  
And then, because it seemed as if words could not possibly make things right, he took a step towards her cautiously, as if he didn't want to frighten her. Her eyes traveled slowly down his body and rested on his feet, watching them pad across the white carpet towards her, and they watched in disbelief, as his knees dropped to the floor in front of her. Before she even knew what was happening, she felt strong arms encircle her, and she found her arms and face pressed against his bare chest.  
  
A million alarm bells ran off in her head and she almost cursed out loud. Her eyes widened in fear and shock and she gasped sharply. Inwardly she screamed, 'This isn't right! He can't touch me! I need to get away!' But this did nothing to stop the sensations gathering in her midriff and she couldn't find the strength to push him away. Instead, she found that all she wanted to do was sit there, wrapped in his arms, and cry. Her stomach was fluttering now in a way that wasn't unpleasant, and she could hardly breathe. The way his skin felt, the heat that radiated from it and the feeling of lightheadedness that she was getting from being in such close proximity to someone---anyone, made her scared. Little by little, ice was melting from around her heart and the barrier between herself and another person was slipping away rapidly. She couldn't stop it now. Without knowing it, Pan had moved her arms around his neck and had buried her face in the hollow between his neck and chest. The ragged clothes had dropped from her hands now and the smell of citrus, stronger than ever, was invading her senses.  
  
It was Trunks' turn to gasp in surprise as he felt her arms slip around his neck. They were so thin and fragile, waiting to be broken. He tightened his hold around her waist and raised one hand to cradle her head. And then he felt it.......his heart skipped a beat, and suddenly it was as if it was beating to a whole new rhythm. He hadn't realized it, but he too had built a wall around his heart, and being this close to Pan had stirred every emotion. When he was around her, his laugh, rare even when his mother had been alive, rang out at every one of her all-too-familiar antics.  
  
'I barely even know her!' he screamed inside his head, 'I can't......feel like this if I don't even know her!' Just as she was screaming, 'I can't get attached to anyone! I know that if I do, I'll only be hurt again! No one can guarantee their life.....if he gets killed, then who will I have to hold on to?'  
  
***  
  
Videl watched as the wounds that had never quite healed in her daughter's heart were ripped savagely open again. She hadn't meant for it to be quite so emotional, but it was her sworn duty to force Pan to open up again. The tail of her host body flicked in frustration and the glassy eyes narrowed. She wanted to do something—anything....but what else could she do in a cat's body?  
  
Videl slunk away from the doorway. She did feel guilty, but knowing the relatively few close moments that Pan and Trunks had shared, and knowing the amount of time left, she could only hope that Pan would finally allow herself to trust someone again. Trust Trunks. And this was only the beginning, because it couldn't be just trust---it had to be love. She clearly had a lot more work to do, and not enough time to do it in.  
  
***  
  
"I'm not angry anymore Trunks---it just hurts," she whispered in his ear, "It hurts like it should have a long time ago." They had held each other for an eternity it seemed, maybe longer. And after an eternity of silence, she was ready to tell him everything.  
  
I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!!!!! *sniff* I know I'm such a bad person. Make the few people who read this junk wait, and then have it turn out to be a short chapter. But I truly did have writer's block, I swear! And now I TOTALLY know where I'm going. Oy. So, hasta la vista! Until next time!!!! 


	13. Dreams, Nightmares, and Chocolatecovered...

YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! I know VERY VERY well how cheesy it is that Videl is Star........sigh, but put yourselves in my position.......person who just got their face chewed by a dog (yes, it happened on April 24 and I had to get two sets of stitches on my ALREADY huge nose because it was basically torn in three), struggling to retain v. high grade point average by actually DOING all of my homework, and, to top it all off, having SEVERE writer's block. I know I know, getting attacked by a dog has NOTHING to do with what I was writing but it really hurt whimper. Oy......so without further ado, the point where I may actually be able to turn my story around for the better! (I TOLD you guys this would be better as a movie!!!!! Oy!!!)  
  
Capitulo Trece!!!  
  
When Pan had finally spilled every last tear, and had ejaculated every last harsh word that she had held in for so many years, a long silence passed between the two as they sat on Trunks' bed (A/N-yes, I moved them up there.....also, I just realized that I put in a couple of instances where tears "leak out" of Pan's eyes, when I said she's supposed to never have cried......just ignore that blatant loss of foresight). It wasn't uncomfortable---indeed, it was perhaps the first silence for either of them that had passed without a feeling of needing to talk to fill the empty air. It was refreshing; all of the pent up feelings had been let loose, and Pan felt an empty place in her heart where her anger had formerly resided that was waiting to be filled with something else. With love perhaps.  
  
Trunks finally reached across the bed to his nightstand and picked up the bag of chocolate-covered gummi bears (A/N-yes, if you can't tell, I LOVE those things.....shoooo good. Hmmm, maybe I should go get some. J/k).  
  
"Want some?" He asked.  
  
Pan stared at him for a second and then burst out laughing.  
  
"Whaaaaaaaat??" he asked, amazement printed across his face, "What did I do? Is there something on my face?"  
  
"I.....don't know......what's so funny!" she managed to gasp out, "It's just," she continued when she had caught her breath, "You offering me food right now is kind of.......weird. It's just funny is all."  
  
"Fine. More for me!" he said, while reaching into the bag and grabbing a few.  
  
"Hey! I didn't say I didn't want any!!!! Gimme that!!!!" she reached over and tried to grab the bag, but Trunks had already lifted it over his head, causing Pan to reach up and bring herself face to face with him. Their eyes met and she paused in her crusade for gummi bears for a split second. Her heart was pounding when she realized that she had been staring. But how could she not get lost in his eyes? Those big blue eyes with so much emotion---as opposed to hers, which held nothing. It was another few tense seconds before she could make her brain function. Her first reaction was to put a hand on his face and push while grabbing onto the bag so that now he lay on his own bed with a red handprint on his face.  
  
"Owww! You could've just asked me nicely!!!"  
  
"Trunks, you know that's not my policy," she said, while triumphantly eating the bears with a huge grin plastered across her face. "If I want something, I'm not going to ask for it! Especially chocolate!"  
  
Trunks arched an eyebrow as he heard his name coming from her lips. He realized that she hadn't said his name in a completely derogative tone until now. Before this moment in time his name had always been said like it hurt her to say it. He rather enjoyed the change. He sighed contentedly, and moved his hands under his head. He glanced over to Pan who was consuming gummi bears at a slower rate now, gazing thoughtfully across the room to the door. "Pan?" he began, "Are you Ok now?"  
  
She looked over at him and swallowed the bear in her mouth before putting the bag down and lying down next to him, mimicking his position and gazing at the ceiling. "Yeah, I think I am." She turned her face towards him and smiled—the first real smile she had given in years.  
  
And to Trunks, it was like his mom was still there, like he didn't have to fight for mankind anymore, like his life was perfect. But all good things come to an end, and Pan's smile was broken by her huge yawn, revealing all of her very white teeth and pink tongue. She stretched sleepily, and asked, "What time is it?"  
  
Trunks was surprised as he gave the answer—"One thirty already. Are you sleepy?"  
  
"No yawn way! I'm just stretching out my mouth is all," came the reply, but her eyes were already half closed. She reached over and, in a sudden gesture of affection, hugged him. Because they were both laying down, it looked more like she was sleeping on his chest, but it was a hug nonetheless. His skin was set aflame, and his heart was pounding so that he was sure she would notice something, the way her cheek was pressed against him. But she was already fast asleep, breathing deeply and peacefully. He didn't dare disturb her. If she was so wrathful in her waking hours, what would she be like if awoken from slumber? Besides, he was rather enjoying the feel of her skin on his, the way her soft hair spilled over his side and over his neck.  
  
He was feeling something he has never before felt in his entire life. Lust. How could he not, with this beautiful girl lying upon him, waiting for his caress. He wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to love her---but who would dare to do any of those things to Pan? She required no love it seemed, only acceptance, and he had given her that---what else could she possibly need? But these feelings were fleeting, for he had learned to distrust anything that could hurt him, including emotion, and he quelled the urges quickly. He was very justified in his decision to distrust his feelings for Pan, as he would soon see. His heart rate slowed again as he thought of whom he was dealing with. Cold, unfeeling, Pan. So then why had she hugged him? Why did she seem so content lying there? As he thought these things, his eyelids grew heavy, and sleep was coming fast.  
  
Now he was standing in a warm, gray mist. He couldn't see anything (Toady's note:......dun dun dun!!!) more than 10 yards in front of him. He was tingling all over, as if his whole body had fallen asleep, and the mist began to get cold. Suddenly his hyper-sensitive ears (A/N: and by the way, I know EXACTLY how the ear works now---we're studying the nervous system. Whoooo!) heard the sound of footsteps on the hard, cold stone beneath his own bare feet. Whoever it was wasn't wearing any shoes either, and he shivered in anticipation and as a reaction to the cold---he was still wearing only a pair of jeans, exactly as he'd fallen asleep.  
  
Out of the mist appeared Pan, dressed in the same, tight black dress in which he had first found her. Apparently it had the same affect upon him in his dream world as in the real world. His head spun and he suddenly found himself unable to move, although he wasn't sure if that was a reaction to the dress or a function of the dream. His body grew hot as he realized she was walking towards him slowly, seductively, her eyes never leaving his and her hips swaying dangerously. She focused the same intense gaze upon him now as she did when they were fighting, but this time the gaze was anything but hostile. The corners of her mouth were turned up in an insolent, sexy, smirk, which broke the last amount of resolve that he had been using to think pure thoughts. He wanted her. He wanted her very badly. He felt like he would explode if she didn't come nearer to him.  
  
And then, finally, after what seemed like an eon, she had arrived next to him. He wanted to reach out and pull her to him, to start pulling off what little clothing she had on, but he really couldn't move. He cursed his subconscious for giving him so little power during his own dream- --even if it was only a dream. When she reached out and put her hands around his neck, he noticed that her skin, like his, was burning hot. He also noticed how smooth her skin was and how closely she had pressed her body against his.  
  
Slowly she brought down one hand to pull his face down to hers and.....he was melting in complete bliss as her lips finally touched his. The whole event was sending him into sensory overload, and even though he knew it was just a dream, he couldn't help responding by deepening the kiss. He was suddenly able to move his arms, and so, without further ado, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her even closer (if at all possible) and ran his other hand lovingly down her neck. Down.....down.....down. She broke the very passionate kiss and grabbed his wandering hand, throwing her head back and laughing wildly because she knew she was in control. She began to kiss him again, this time tracing kisses slowly down his face and neck and chest, only to come back up to cover his mouth once again. Trunks, however, wasn't satisfied by only her kisses--- they left him feeling even more ravenous for her body---and was ready to try once again to move things along, when Pan broke contact yet again. But this time he hadn't done anything. She looked regretful, not only for leaving Trunks aching for more, but for something else, as if she knew something he didn't.  
  
And, at that moment, whether by coincidence or by a deep subliminal message, he noticed that she wasn't wearing her necklace. The one thing that she had vowed never to remove, and it hadn't appeared here in his dream. Yet every other feature was congruent with the Pan in real life. Even her mannerisms, while unexpected, were exactly the way she would have reacted in the real world. Was it a slip of the subconscious? He couldn't tell. Her now sad, soft smile was telling him something and he couldn't decipher it. With one last, gentle movement she brought her lips to his and kissed him softly. Then she backed away until she was just out of his reach, and he found that he was frozen once again.  
  
It happened so quickly he barely had time to register it in his mind. Pan was clenching her stomach in pain and now the dress she was wearing was white, although Trunks hadn't seen it change. Red covered her whole torso, seeping through the dress and dripping into and off of her hands. As Trunks watched, a tear in the dress was forming before his eyes. The fabric was ripping jaggedly across her stomach, revealing a lethal gash directly beneath it. Her face was losing its color as blood spilled out onto the cold stone floor beneath her. He struggled to go to her, to sweep her up into his arms, to save her, but the force which kept him motionless was stronger than all of his sayajin fury. He could feel tears of rage running down his face, and his heart was rending in two. He shouted her name in agony and screamed from his own excruciating pain. Then, as his eyes remained transfixed upon her, another deep, long gasp appeared in her arm. She cried out in pain and clutched her arm. And now more gashes appeared all over her body---on her legs and her arms and her back. They came as if an invisible swordsman had raced around her and used her as a practice target. Finally, after she had been reduced to being sprawled upon her back on the floor, gasping for breath, one especially slow stroke was delivered to her face. From below her eye, a thin, torturous cut ran painstakingly, little by little down her cheek, not stopping until it had run down over her chin and halfway down her throat. By now, Trunks' eyes were red with pain and rage, and the pain which racked his own body left him feeling numb and destroyed.  
  
Out of the shadows he registered one more set of footsteps, and his sobs were suddenly quelled as if something large and unpleasant had been rammed down his throat. He felt like he was choking, but he wasn't. Even with his eyes half-blinded in his mortal anguish, he was still able to register the insidious form of one of the only two things he truly hated in his world. Android 17 walked forward carelessly, hands in his pockets, to inspect the almost dead Pan. Her eyelids were fluttering and she threatened to leave forever rather than look upon the menacing android. He removed his hands from his pockets, crouched down, and picked her up gently in his arms. Now Trunks felt sick. Then, as gently as he had picked her up, 17 bent down to kiss Pan upon the forehead. And he moved to her lips--- her two, beautiful, lips---and, roughly now, he kissed her again.....and again....and again.....  
  
Trunks was dying inside now, and he could feel it. He could feel his heart collapse in upon itself and he had forgotten that it was only a dream, or rather, a nightmare. Finally, 17 had finished desecrating her body with his foul lips, and he slowly took her neck in one hand and her ankles in the other. He raised her up high above his head, raised his knee, and brought her body down upon his knee so fast it was hard to see. The only sound was a sickening crack as the last life seeped from Pan's body. Trunks screamed so loudly he felt as if he was shattering his own eardrums. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and then, afraid of what he would see, he opened them, but he only saw white.  
  
It was the ceiling. The ceiling of his own room. He was breathing so hard and fast, he was almost hyperventilating. Tears were streaming down his face and sweat covered his body. His heart was still racing, and showed little indication of slowing down anytime soon. Then he saw her, his angel, his dream, standing over him, looking so very concerned and relieved at the same time.  
  
Her voice floated to him from far away, "Trunks? Trunks?" The tone was anxious and hurried.  
  
Painfully he answered, "I'm here. I'm back.....from hell." He was still gasping for breath. "I......had a nightmare. Please.....don't go. Please?"  
  
Her eyes looked ready to brim over with tears but she brought the back of her hand across her face and wiped away any moisture there. "Of course I'm not going anywhere," she said, while reaching down and stroking his forehead, wiping away sweat and brushing back the damp hair from face. If only she had known quite what he meant. She closed her eyes for a second and opened them again, her own breathing rather ragged. "You scared me so badly. I didn't know what to do. You were screaming.....and-and I couldn't wake you up. I tried. I was so scared. You looked like you were being tortured. I-I-" she couldn't finish. Instead she threw herself onto his chest and hugged him tightly, like a frightened child. He brought his arms around her and they held each other for several minutes, waiting until both of them had regulated their breathing and calmed down.  
  
"So what happened?" she finally asked, her eyes on the bed now that she was sitting upright again.  
  
The moment of truth. Did he have the heart to tell her what he had truly seen? What good could it do? It would only scare her and make her even more jumpy than she already was. Besides, what were the possibilities of it actually happening? They were higher than he was willing to admit, but he just wanted to be comforted and to comfort her right now. So he said, "I-I dreamed about....about my mother's........murder." It was almost as painful to say the sentence as it would have been to tell Pan about her own brutal death, but he was shielding Pan from certain pain and fear.  
  
Her eyes rose to his, and for a moment, Trunks was sure that she could see through his words, that she could see what had really happened to her, but then her gaze shifted downwards again. There were no words fitting for a moment like that. He had just confided in her the terrible secret of his mother's demise, and she knew the only being capable of wreaking such havoc upon Trunks' psyche was 17. So instead, she held his hand, and they sat, deep into the night, until the morning hours, until both had drifted off into a quiet, dreamless sleep. Pan slept once again on Trunks' chest, and they didn't wake up until sometime after noon.  
  
Uh......heh heh heh. You guys will either really like or really hate that chapter. It's veeeeery serious. I promise I'll write a fluffier story after this one! Really! But hey, I wrote a semi-steamy love scene, and I totally didn't think I could do THAT. Toady can vouch for me. Anyways, I DID finally get my chocolate-covered gummi bears, and my nose is healing very well. I just can't get too much sun on the scars. And there's still internal stitches and all that. Anyways, PLEASE review so I can know whether you hate this chapter so much you will never read my work again, or if you love it to pieces, or if you're indifferent or.......oh goodness, I don't know. But don't be too hard on a starving (ok, well not starving, but very stressed out because of finals) quasi-artiste. Gracias! 


	14. Blood, Sweat and Tears

Whoooo! Another chaaaaaapter. Really, I should be preparing for my in- class history essay which could take place at any time within the next 2 weeks (yeah, he's so evil, he's making it a 'surprise'---no notes or anything) but I feel like writing about something other than the effects of colonialism upon India, Southeast Asia, and Africa. And I've got a soccer tournament this weekend.....yay! Hopefully we can win something. We've got a kick-butt new forward, and of course ME on defense (no one gets past ) so we should do fine. Maybe if I make my chapters shorter I can get them out faster.......we'll see.  
  
Without further ado---Chapter 14  
  
She looked in upon the two sleeping. They seemed so peaceful, and after all that Trunks had experienced, he deserved a good few hours of quiet, refreshing, dreamless sleep. Pan of course hadn't realized exactly what had kept Trunks up half the night screaming in agony, but she knew enough to give him her undivided attention, which was, of course, the plan. Videl really had hated to ask Baba to do it, but did she have a choice? No. It was completely necessary if Trunks and Pan were ever going to get over their individual bouts of mental angst and figure out that they were destined to save something good from the wreckage created by the androids......together....  
  
Besides, Trunks dream didn't necessarily have to come true---granted, it was a pretty accurate description of events to come.....but all of that could be avoided somehow. She just wasn't sure how. Baba, the little pink- haired witch lady of the Otherworld, was probably sleeping in mid-air right now and caressing her beloved crystal ball. At first Baba had objected to giving such a horrible nightmare to a man who was trying to save the world, but with a little persuasive skill, Videl had managed to get Baba to do it, telling her that the end would come faster this way. Videl smiled her catlike smile as she thought about Gohan, watching even now from above the earth. And now both Pan and Trunks were tangled together, dreaming nothing and feeling everything. Gohan was probably glowering angrily at the way his young and innocent daughter was laying with this much older man, and since he had also known about Trunks' dream, and had actually seen it, he was probably wanting to kill Trunks for the thoughts about his daughter which he knew Trunks had been having during said dream.  
  
Pan's legs were intertwined with Trunks' in a hopeless mess, and his arms were set immovably around her waist. Her face was still against his chest, her arms pressed against it also, as if she were a small child who needed comforting---which, perhaps, she was. Her hair cascaded over his arms and trickled onto his neck, and his head was bent down to touch the top of hers. They looked so.....so.....Videl searched for the word. Happy. That was it. How often could two such tortured souls get away from the ugly reality for a few hours and just rest in each other's arms? Almost never, was her answer to her own question.  
  
But now she was hungry, and she decided to leave the two in peace to go choke down some more disgusting cat food and try not to barf. The things she did for her daughter......  
  
new scene  
  
A bright light flooded the space between her eyelids and her eyeballs. She mentally urged it to go away, but even a quarter-sayajin couldn't manage to move the sun. Her head throbbed with pain. It was the feeling one got after a night of little rest and lots of tears. She half expected to be back in her old, rotting apartment, with her lonely, everyday routine, but even semi-conscious she was able to remember her new living arrangement. She slowly, painfully opened her eyes, not wanting to brave the sun, but feeling increasingly hungrier with every second. Instead of the white walls of her new room in Trunks' apartment, she saw only smooth, tan skin. She stiffened, realizing that the warmth she felt was much deeper than anything a blanket could provide---she was pressed up against someone. Trunks, to be more exact. Her eyes shot open immediately, and she turned her head upwards only to see his gorgeous, sleeping face come directly into her line of vision. He was breathing so deeply, so peacefully, that she really didn't have the heart to wake him up, not after remembering the terrible ordeal which he had undergone last night. His sharp features were completely relaxed, and his eyebrows weren't knitted in frustration or anger as they usually were. A small smile graced his lips, and she wondered what he was thinking.  
  
Yes, what was he thinking? When she thought about it, she hadn't taken the time to get to know him at all. It had been one day after another of sparring and nearly silent meals, but had she ever taken the time to ask him what he was thinking? No. Although she had a feeling that after last night, they were going to have to start becoming a lot more comfortable with each other, as demonstrated by their choice of sleeping positions. She wasn't uncomfortable, but she wasn't used to physical contact with anyone, unless she was hitting someone. It felt so natural, just lying there on his bed, inhaling his citrus-y smell and feeling his warm breath on her face.  
  
Of course, she would have to break contact sometime. For one thing, the experience she was having was much too.....enjoyable for her, and she didn't want to overload her senses. Their hips were pressed much too tightly together, and she felt a blush creep onto her face at the idea of what it implied. If their legs hadn't been permanently meshed together, she wouldn't be having such a problem, but should she be enjoying it as much as she was? She was feeling lightheaded, and she was absolutely sure that it was electricity and not blood that was running through her veins (A/N: and arteries! That's right, this week we're learning about the circulatory system!). Poor, poor Pan. Little did she know that what she was feeling was lust. Or was it love? In any event, Trunks had felt the same electricity between them last night, and it was her turn to feel embarrassed and confused this morning.  
  
Not knowing if Trunks was a heavy sleeper or not, Pan experimented by gently sliding one of her legs out of Trunks'. Needless to say, the experiment failed, and Trunks stirred in his sleep. She also hadn't managed to extract her leg completely. So she was in the same predicament. Somehow the thought of Trunks waking up and finding her pressed up against him in that manner made her blush deepen even further. She didn't want him to think she was needy or childish for clinging onto him in such a manner. Not her---not being her cold, needless self. She still felt as if she must keep up the pretense of being emotionless, but it was getting harder and harder with every minute that passed.  
  
She was still staring intently at his chest, trying to think of a way to untangle herself, when a soft, clear voice rang out above her head.  
  
"Pan?" it said. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly in embarrassment because she knew that Trunks had just woken up. She looked up slowly, her face a brighter red than she could ever remember it being, and raised her eyebrows questioningly.  
  
"Yes?" she said, in the most indifferent voice she could muster. She was very aware that her face was still flaming and that Trunks was looking down at her bemusedly.  
  
"Don't you think we should.....um.....untangle ourselves?" he asked. His tone was slightly sarcastic, but the grin on his face spoke his true feelings. It said that he was truly amused to see Pan looking so flustered. And he was. Never before had he seen her so discomposed, so unlike her normal distant self. He wanted to laugh out loud at the sight of her brick red face. However, at the same time, he too wanted to blush. It wasn't just Pan clinging onto him---he was holding onto her as if his life depended on it.  
  
As soon as Pan realized that she wasn't the only one guilty of foul play, she became her old, cynical self. "Yeah, we probably should. I was about to be squashed to death in your arms." She smirked up at him, telling him that she knew he was in trouble. He wouldn't blush, he just looked down at her blankly as she looked back up at him blankly.....  
  
They both burst out laughing. The predicament was suddenly hilariously funny to both of them. But still, both of them were noticeably reluctant to let go of each other, and when they finally did, their eyes were locked the whole time. Pan slid off the bed, her hair tousled and her eyes puffy and red. And to Trunks, she had never looked so beautiful. Of course, he wasn't about to tell her that. Perhaps it was the fact that she had just spent the whole night with him, comforting him, and keeping him safe, but whatever it was, it was certainly attractive.  
  
Suddenly a loud rumble emitted from his stomach, obviously a sign that food was required immediately. Pan rubbed the sleep from her eyes and smiled warmly. "How about I make you some breakfast,"......  
  
new scene  
  
She had decided not to tell him. She sensed that he had been keeping something from her, so it was only fair for her to keep something from him. Especially since she knew that her "something" would cause more than a few embarrassing situations in the near future. She wanted to be truthful, really she did, but her pride was at stake, and she would never admit to what she had done---or rather, not done.  
  
But the fact was, she was standing over a stove cooking bacon, unable to get her mind off of the last night's events. She kept reliving everything over and over again, and every time she did so, a new blush would creep onto her face. She could cover up by saying that the heat from the stove was making her hot, but she was still confused at the rather large amount of blushing she had been doing lately.  
  
flashback type thing  
  
She could remember how nice it was, sleeping peacefully in her bear- hug with Trunks before he had had the nightmare. Even sleeping, she was aware of his intense warmth and the synchronization of their breathing. It was probably the deepest sleep she'd ever had in her whole life. And she was suddenly woken up.  
  
At first she couldn't tell what had startled her enough to wake her up from what she supposed was perfect bliss, but she soon realized that an even more blissful feeling had disturbed her slumber. As soon as full consciousness had been regained, she realized that Trunks hands were wandering all over her body. She gasped sharply and looked up, only to find his eyes closed. At first she had been alarmed and a little frightened because she had no idea how to stop him, but those feelings soon graduated into ones of intense satisfaction. His hands were warm, and strong and soft, and the way he caressed her was so gentle. The fingers of one of his hands were entwined in her hair, and the other hand was rubbing slowly up and down her back, sending chills to every part of her body. She knew she should have been disgusted---she should have started beating him for this act of seeming perverseness, but it didn't feel as if he was trying to grope her or take advantage of her (A/N Actually, Pan, in his dream he's trying to do both to you....sorry for the dissapointment---Trunks is a bad boy ;;---and hey, in all fairness, Trunks hasn't even touched a girl in the whole of his pathetic 22 year old existence, so he deserves a little female companionship, right?). It felt as if he were comforting her, for whatever reason. She was in heaven, however completely odd and disturbing the situation was---and it was certainly odd and disturbing.  
  
Did all sayajins do things like this in their sleep? Was it possible that she admitted her deepest subconscious secrets to her pillow every night, or screamed aloud in agony with every nightmare? She tried to remember if she had ever woken up in someplace other than where she had gone to sleep, or if she'd ever woken up to find her furniture rearranged or something odd like that. Unfortunately, she found herself unable to concentrate because she was experiencing very sharp pain in the region of her scalp. Her eyes traveled upwards and found that Trunks' face was now twisted in agony, and his hands, only a moment ago so comforting, were now clenched into fists, regardless of how much of Pan's hair was still in them. The hand on her back that had so gently caressed her was now squeezing her to death. He was holding her to him so tightly that she couldn't breathe. She could feel the air being squeezed out of her lungs. She whimpered in pain, something she rarely ever did, and then she gasped in shock as she felt warm liquid trickle down her face. Trunks' fist was clenched so tightly that he had cut the skin on his own palm, and the blood was running over her scalp and her face. This was a nightmare, for not only Trunks, but herself.  
  
She struggled to escape his deathly grasp, but she was getting increasingly dizzier with each passing second. Finally, instead of trying to push against him, she tried to slide out. After several agonizing seconds, she escaped and collapsed upon the floor, coughing and gasping.  
  
When she had recovered, she stood up slowly to see Trunks sprawled out upon the bed, looking defenseless and as if he was in pain. The blood from his own hands was flowing across the white bed sheets and sweat poured down his face and chest. Slowly she approached again, weary of his violent behavior, and she called out his name to try and wake him up. This apparently served only to emit a noise somewhere between a grunt and a whimper of pain. Next she tried punching him lightly in the leg, but to no effect. Finally she took him by the shoulders and began to shake him violently in a last ditch attempt to rouse him from his tortuous sleep.  
  
She ran to the bathroom and threw open the cupboard door, searching for a first aid kit---anything that would either help him wake up or let her bandage his hands. Quickly she found bandages and she grabbed a cup from the sink and filled it with water. She ran back and tried to lift up his hands so that she could clean them, but they seemed permanently glued to the bed.......  
  
end of flashback type thing  
  
Pan was snapped out of her silent reverie by a few drops of bacon grease splattering onto her arm from the hot pan. She cursed loudly, dropped the tongs she had been using to turn the bacon, and ran to the sink, turning on the cold water and jabbing her arm underneath the steady flow. Once she had cooled off sufficiently, both physically and mentally, she glanced around to find Trunks staring at her in a dreamlike trance, his elbow propped up on the table, and his head leaning on his hand. He still had that same silly smirk on his face as when he had woken up this morning.  
  
Slowly he sat up straight, and with a grin still plastered onto his face, he formed the question, "What were you thinking about?" And Pan made a vow to let her thoughts voice themselves much more often.  
  
Okay, okay, not really a cliffhanger or anything, so you can't TOTALLY hate me. Anyways, it was so hard to write this chapter, considering I only got ONE REVIEW!!!! That's fine for any of my other laymo chapters, but I busted my BUTT for chapter 13---and let me tell you, that whole "seductive- sexy-scene" thing is DEFINITELY not my thing, but the story needed something to pick it up a little. I worked really hard and totally came out of my shell, and all I get is one review from dear, dear MM.......sniff (not even Toady—who is ungrounded—deemed to bestow a review upon her best friend.....well, to be fair, I kinda printed out the chapter and gave it to her, and she told me in person what she thought of it, so I can't complain.....) at least MM supported me (computer-wise I mean)....okay enough with the guilt trip. I hate doing it but the reviews inspire me to write, and that's what I like to do. So anyways REVIEW!!!!! Oh, and by the way, we got 3rd in that soccer tournament, I kicked butt in my essay, and my finals went off pretty much without a hitch. Just in case anyone wanted to know—yeah right. 


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